Heritage Harvest Festival...

In our effort to get the kids out to local events, we took them to the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello this afternoon. This is a festival celebrating local foods and seed saving and we went more to get out and see the sights than to actually learn about seeds (there is no way to keep little folks quiet enough for the free classes).
We had a blast and enjoyed a lot of local foods... tomatoes, watermelons, cantaloupes and peppers. We also got to buy a few things like organic lemonade, homemade donuts and homemade organic popsicles.
We also had a nice time enjoying the weather, which has turned cool in the few nights.
This was also the first chance to the kids to ride a bus as we had to park off-site and get bused on to Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson.
It was a beautiful day!

Mountainside Petting Farm

We spent our Saturday afternoon at the petting farm and had a blast.
The Mountainside Petting Farm is in Afton, which is about an hour from our house on the other side of Charlottesville.
Savannah has been talking about seeing cows and chickens ever since we went to the Orange County Fair last month so I thought this might be a great place to take the kids.
We drove through Charlottesville and took the highway to the farm, but drove back on Skyline Drive in order to enjoy the scenery and take advantage of our yearly pass.
The petting farm is small, but they have an interesting mixture of animals; including a camel, a pair of peacocks and a pot-bellied pig to go along with their calf, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and horses.
Here are several pictures from our adventure to the petting zoo... I believe the top one is the best picture I've ever taken of our kids!

Welcome to my blog...

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I haven't participated in the blog hops for a few weeks, but thought I would take some time tonight to link up to a few and meet some new folks.
If you're new to my blog than I want to say hello and hope you find something here that you like and will make you come back for more. If you've been here before than hello again and welcome back.
I'm a wife and stay-at-home Mama and freelance writer who has been working more now that my husband lost his job in a layoff earlier this summer. I know how fortunate we are to have kept ourselves afloat, but understand it's a daily battle to do so.
If any of you out there are going through something similar please drop me a line and share a tip or two... I hope to blog a little more in the days ahead as I've been so busy late to give much attention to the blog.

Not quite off the charts, but close...

Julius had his 18-month check-up yesterday. It was a few weeks late because we had an insurance change due to Pat's job loss.
Julius weighed in at 35.97 lbs. and was 36.5 inches in length... he's in the 97th percentile for weight and height for kids his age. His weight was up a little bit this time for his growth chart while his height stayed about the same pattern as it had last time.
The nurse that saw us told me not to worry because Julius was probably in the middle of a growth spurt and would grow into his weight gain. I can tell he's in a growth spurt now because he's sleeping a lot and is cranky... both signs he's shown during previous growth spurts.
The nurse also tested Julius' hand/eye coordination, his speaking skills and his ability to play... all things they check when they're looking for signs of autism.
I'm happy to say Julius passed all of the test with flying colors and she said he was a very smart little boy and well within his age range.
She was even impressed he's used the potty a few times this week... yes, my 18-month-old will use the potty when his sister won't!

Wordless Wednesday...

Little Man has his 18-month check-up today (a few weeks late due to insurance issues)... will let you know how he measures up (sure he'll be off the charts).