Mum Picking At Our Favorite Garden!

Autumn has finally arrived, and it definitely felt like fall today! I was in the mood to pick some mums so after the kids got out of school we went to our favorite mum garden. We discovered this mum garden last fall when we moved here, and it has become our desired mum spot! The owners are super friendly, and I'm always happy to give them business. So if you are in the area, and in the market for some beautiful mums at a great price come to good earth nursery before they get picked over! 

Over The Weekend...

After a long week of rainy, and dreary weather (it totally felt as if I was living in Seattle) we finally got a bit of sunshine over the weekend, and I have to say that it was so nice to be able to get out of the house because this kind of weather cn really make one lack motivation to do anything. I'm not one to just sit around and mope around the house, but I felt a sickness coming on, and luckily it passed, but unfortuanely both Noah and Chelsea became infested with allergies and even though they both felt better after dosing with allergy medicine on saturday we came home from the adult session of stake conference (which was excellent by the way) to a very sick Chelsea. Her allergies turned into a cough, and was burning up a bit. We gave her some more medicine to alleviate the slight fever she developed, and she conked right out. We woke up the next morning, and got ready for church. I went upstairs to see how she was feeling, and could tell that she needed to rest some more so she went back to sleep. I could tell that she wanted to go to church, but explained to her how she really needs to rest. She can be stubborn at times, and sometimes it's a good thing especially when it comes to her not wanting to miss church or school, but what's important is that she rests that way her sickness doesn't get worse so that she doesn't miss church or school.

But that didn't last. 

30 minutes past after everyone left, and she came down to let me know she was hungry. Even though she looked a bit groggy she seemed a bit better. She was hungry, and so I made her some breakfast, and after we ate she asked if she could watch a dvd. But instead of clicking on to that remote, I asked if she was up for a walk on the bike trail. On Sundays I really try to refrain from any technology in the house, but almost gave in since she was sick. Had it been raining of course that would have been a thing to do, but because it was such a pretty day outside I couldn't let it go to waste by staying indoors. She obliged, and because it was windy she bundled up with a hoodie. We had such a nice morning together as walked, and talked. We saw a few flowers along the trail and asked if she could pick a few. I didn't see any harm in that, and so as she pickin' I decided to capture a few photos because...

FLOWERS! 

I captured a few shots of her pickin' some. She absolutely loves spring, and on this day we were really feeling it! She saw some pretty colored flowers from a distance, and as she picked them ran up to me and said, "look mom they're bachelor buttons." I'm like, "how the heck do you know this? Bachelor buttons?? What a cute name for a flower!" Not even I know the names of certain plants, and flowers, but I guess she's learning a lot in school on certain topics, and then again she's been reading more and more lately (which makes me super happy), and that can help too. 

Here are a few moments from our Sunday walk...

After the rest of my crew came home we all decided to go the park to play bocce. Like I said, it was such a pretty day that I couldn't let it go to waste. We all gathered our picnic blanket, and bocce set, and while Jon was out visiting people from church we all went without him, and ventured out to the park for some family fun. He truly was missed, but nonetheless the kids had a great time. 

Can I also tell you that this was my first time playing bocce! So fun, and I think we need to buy a bigger set. I bought a small set only because the balls are easier for Noah to hold. He sure does love this game especially that little jack ball! 

It was a glorious day filled with lots of wind, and sunshine, and I am so blessed to have these kids by my side, and to see them getting along, and laughing have a good time brings a huge smile to this momma's face! 

And kudos to Noah for capturing such a nice pic of me, and his cute sisters! 

Happy Monday folks, and hope you're weekend was just as fun as ours! 

Hello Spring!

As i was organizing my pics in iPhoto I stumbled upon these pics, and realized they never made it into the blog last year. Now why is that?? These were taken while we went out for a drive in the outskirts of Jersey and stumbled upon this beautiful garden of flowers. I couldn't help but to get down, and capture my kids enjoying the beauty of some of the earth. I love flowers, and hit myself silly because I wish I could be a green thumb like my mama, and not kill every flower that my kids want to plant. I leave it in their hands to keep up any small garden they plant whether it's inside a huge pot, or out in our little back yard. 

^^^ matching shirts & american flags they actually grabbed from their garden...I made sure they put them back!  ^^^

^^^ a little sweat & gum in his mouth...a sure sign of spring ^^^

Even though it's 40 degrees right now looking at these pics gets me so excited for warmer temperatures, and going out on nature walks. Spring and summer are the seasons which bond us even more as a family, and the older my two younger children get i see that they are beginning to "really" catch the meaning of how beautiful God's creations are. 

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Spring wherever you are, and if you are in colder temperatures hang in there...it won't last very long. Unless we get more snow just like we did last year on the fifth day of spring! 

Happy Thursday!

Longwood Gardens '13

One of our favorite places we fell in love with two years ago was Longwood Gardens. I remember the first time we stepped foot into this huge garden I felt as if I was in a different country. This is certainly one place you can escape form the world to feel tranquility, and take in all of Gods beautiful creations. Once again we spent all day here, and walked every acre of this garden...and then some!

Noah had his children's map in hand, and was our little navigator today. 

Entering the children's garden was more fun for him this year since he's a little bit older. Since he loves to get wet, he and Chelsea took advantage of it. Too bad we didn't bring their swimsuits. They do provide towels as your exiting the area, but luckily they didn't get too, too wet where they needed a change of clothing.

This was a pretty cool attraction in the childrens garden. There are paint brushes in which you get wet, and the kids were painting this dragon with them. This area was all about getting wet. 

I can't remember if they had lily pads on display the first time we came here, but these were so cool! This would be a perfect place for a wedding reception! (okay...that was random!)

This spot near the bell tower is my favorite. We can sit here all day listening to the sounds of the water flowing, and the carillon of the bells. If only I had one of these in my backyard. 

One thing the girls look forward to is the water fountain show. This time we viewed it from up on top where the girls got a tad bit wet, and getting cooled off was needed as the day was pretty humid! It was awesome! 

Dude...it was so humid I felt like jumping in this coin pond!

And...

Since when did these girls become taller than me???? I feel like a shrimp compared to them. I'm five foot nothing, yet my eight year old is one shoe size away from mine! You've got to be kidding me!

Walking among a row of flowers is so breathtaking. It makes me want to be a botanist or something. Everything here is just so beautiful, and well kept.  

Hydrangeas, hydrangeas, hydrangeas! They are my favorite.

This truly is one of our favorite attractions in Pennsylvania. Coming here on a hot, humid day was totally worth it. They have water fountains all over the garden (just in case you forget to bring your water bottles), and a delicious cafe inside. We loved this day, and the rain made the day cooler which also made for taking better pictures. I love my family, and we love venturing out together.

Like I wrote in a previous post. We are taking advantage of our time as a family of six before we are down to five...at least until the fall.

excuse those of us with our eyes closed. some sweet old lady took our photo, and only took one!