Phew!!!

We've had a very busy few days around here. It started with Saturday....

My boys are in AWANA this year. They had a field trip to the apple orchard (our third trip this fall - I've got WAY too many apples around here!!!). That was at 10am & we got home around 1pm. It was fun though. The Sparks group (grades K-3) which N is in - had a nature hike. It went long, but it was fun. His leader pointed out different types of trees, the bark & leaves of each, & found some animal tracks. He also explained how a compass works. I took J along on it & he was getting tired near the end. We were gone for about an hour. We almost missed our lunchtime & picking time, but managed to squeeze it in just before having to leave. The high point for the boys was the school bus ride! :-) They rented a bus to take the kids from the church to the field, although about half of the parents/leaders met us there with their kids. There were only a handful on the bus, but my boys really enjoyed it. I had planned to drive there but J really was disappointed on missing out on the ride so we all went.

I came home & made two batches of applesauce - canned it & everything! I'm on a roll!!! I also started cleaning the grapes I have here that are waiting to be made in to jelly. I'm not exactly sure when I'll have the time to make that. I'm hoping in the next day or two since they have been sitting on my porch for over a week at this point. I made pickles last week - my great-grandmother's recipe. Yummy!!! This is the first time I have EVER canned ANYTHING! I can't really say it's fun, but it's oddly fulfilling.

Sunday after church I raced down to my sister's house - she lives about an hour away - to scrapbook the afternoon & evening away. I do this every month - generally on Saturdays - but when that doesn't work we squeeze in a Sunday afternoon. This month our SIL joined us. It was amusing since we scrap at my sister's house so she has ALL of her stuff there - LOTS of stuff. Then our friend T & I arrive with all of our bags & bags of supplies. Since my SIL is here on vacation from California she has nothing. She stopped at the Wal-Mart 1-Hour to get photos from vacation & picked up a few other doo-dads there. She walked in with a single Wal-Mart bag. If only! LOL She did great though & got 8 pages done. She can't wait to go home. The Monday after she has her monthly scrapbooking time at her church & not only can she show them vacation photos but they are already scrapped!!!! Too funny!

Yesterday my brother & SIL & their two girls along with my sister, her hubby & their son all came over for lunch. It was a fun day. The cousins all got along very well which is always nice. It was warm so it was a big buggy outside, but we enjoyed our screened in porch instead.

Today we all met in Bangor & took the kids to the Children's Museum there. I hadn't been & had heard it was pretty nice. It was. We got there around 2pm & pretty much had the entire place to ourselves. That was so nice! My sister & I had gone to the one in Boston earlier in the summer & it was a madhouse! The kids had a fabulous time & didn't want to leave. N asked me all the way home if we could go back tomorrow. :-)

Tomorrow looks like another busy day. The boys start with an 8am dentist appointment - I'm not sure why I keep scheduling them for so early in the AM! I always dread going as neither do well. N better than B, but I seriously think B has some autistic tendencies still - he had some when he was younger & when he is fearful it overwhelms him to the point of not being able to reason with him - at all. He is 10 but at times acts much younger than one expects. Going to the dentist brings it out. Hopefully tomorrow goes better. We shall see. Tomorrow afternoon I'm trying to figure out if I'll be taking them to Augusta - another 1-1/2 hour drive for me - to the Maine State Museum. They are doing a special exhibit on Earth Science. Not sure I'm up to it - or the kids either or that matter. We're not used to so much running around.

Thursdays are always busy as they have Awana in the afternoon. B joined the Christmas musical as well so he has rehearsal from 4:30-5:45 & then there is a 1/2 hour break & N & B have Awana from 6:15-8pm. It makes for a long afternoon - especially since we don't get home until 8:30 at night. My boys are usually in bed by 8pm. They are already tired from everything we've done the last couple of weeks. I'm sure they will be bears on Friday.

However!!!! I am leaving Friday afternoon for a weekend of girls only fun! I'm going away for the weekend to my SIL's (hubby's sister) with my MIL & a family friend. It will be fun & so nice to have a nice weekend away sans children for some mommy-only time.