Precious Things

The other night, I was working on putting out Christmas decorations.  Clayton was looking at one of my snowglobes on the mantle.  I had told him not to touch them when I got them out of the box a few days before.  With a very sincere look on his face, Clayton asked, "What's so fun about having a snowglobe if you're the only one who's allowed to touch it?"  Wow!  I felt so bad!  Clayton is a gazillion times more important than my 2 snowglobes.  He's more important than all the snowglobes in the world!  I took the snowglobe off of the mantle and told him to sit on the rug.  I showed him how to wind it up to play music.  He had a fun time listening to the music, and I was reminded that "stuff" is not to be treasured as more precious than my family members.  If it breaks, it breaks.  My children are so good at helping me to remember what is important in life!

No Other Mothers

I asked Clayton to show me how much he dislikes shopping, and this was his response.

These are some pictures from back in the summer.  We were shopping in J.C. Penny.  They have the cutest pink dressing rooms for girls!  Clayton doesn't like to shop, but Carrington does!

On Friday, I was working on some school work with Carrington.  She was giving me a hard time about something, so I said, "I am your mother."  (I had to remind her who was in charge.  :o) )  Clayton immediately piped up, "And you shall have no other mothers before her!"

Apple Picking

A couple of weeks ago, I decided at the last minute to take my children apple picking.  We have gone to apple farms to buy apples numerous times, but they've never gotten to pick them.  I have fun memories of my family driving into Wisconsin (from the Chicago suburbs) to pick apples.  We loved it! I especially remember an ENORMOUS round block of cheese in a walk-in cooler. It probably weighed a ton.   I wonder if my sisters remember that cheese.  :o) 

We drove up to a town that has several apple farms.  Only one of them would let us pick on a weekday.  And we all had to pay to be able to do it!  We walked up to the trees and there were no apples within reach.  I'm fairly tall at 5' 7"  and I couldn't reach any.  Clayton could only reach one or two apples while sitting on my shoulders.  I had already paid for the bag, so being the great example for my kids that I am, I told them that they could climb up into the trees and pick some.  They thought it was a great idea!

We managed to fill our bag and then rewarded ourselves with ice cream.

Then we listened to the Kit: An American Girl book on CD on the way home.  I don't know why, but we are all fascinated with the Great Depression and the Kit book is written in that time period.

More pictures from Biltmore

It takes me forever to post pictures for some reason, so I have to do it in small increments.  It drives me crazy to have to sit for long periods of time at the computer.  The grounds of the estate are so beautiful!  They, of course, have done an outstanding job with the landscaping.  It really takes a full day to enjoy everything there.  Clayton loved getting to pet the farm animals.  The goat didn't really love Clayton though.  :o)  We didn't go to a few places on the property, but I did have to check out all of the beautiful shops!  They have a toy shop, a book shop, a candy shop, and a gorgeous "Carriage Shop" with all kinds of beautiful things.  I bought a letter opener at the book shop that I will have to make sure Clayton doesn't use as a weapon.  There are several restaurants on the property and a large hotel. 

The Biltmore House