September Book Review: Anne of Green Gables

This month for our Mommy and Me Book Club we read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  The book we read was adapted and illustrated to make it appropriate for ages 7 and up.  I've always loved the story of orphan girl Anne Shirley and the wonderful experiences she has when she moves to Prince Edward Island and is adopted by brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who run a farm named Green Gables.  Anne has a tendency to talk too much and get in a lot of trouble, but she always learns from her mistakes and has matured quite a bit by the end of the book.  Chloe thought the book was delightful and loved reading about Anne.

Yesterday my friends celebrated their anniversary with a picnic out on their parents' farm in Gray Summit, MO.  I thought that sounded like the perfect place to celebrate our book.  Chloe had snap peas for the first time.  So . . . big day.

She also got to eat ice cream at the picnic.  Just like Anne!

Emily, Ruby, Anthony, Nora, Laura, and Mandi.

The three women at this table are three of my favorite people in the world.  Every Friday we get together at one of our houses and finish each other's projects and clean each other's houses while our children run amuck.  I'm always amazed by how much we can accomplish in just two hours.  It's such a pleasure to serve with them and laugh with them and occasionally cry with them each week.  They are truly kindred spirits.   (Anthony, Ruby, and Nora are cool, too.)

That's Nora's "Super-Happy-to-Be-at-a-Picnic-With-Ellie" face.  I dig it.

After taking some pictures out by the barn (Thanks, Laura!), Chloe and I cheered everyone on during a game of kickball, jumped on a trampoline, bagged up some vegetables, and headed home.  On the way to and from the picnic, Chloe watched the movie of Anne of Green Gables in the car.  Every time I heard the theme music, I started to get teary.  Is there anything better than introducing your children to your favorite things?

“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” --Anne Shirley

Just Chloe

I always tell myself that it doesn't matter that I don't have a fancy camera with fancy lenses because it's not the camera, it's the photographer that really makes the difference.  I'm so full of crap.  My friend let me borrow her fancy camera with fancy lenses and I'm pretty sure a monkey could take beautiful pictures with this camera.

If a monkey had a beautiful daughter who loved being photographed.

 

 

Someday.  Someday, maybe.

 

The other day the principal called, which was surprising because the principal has never called.  Then he said, "I'm here with Chloe," which was even more surprising.  (No offense, Harrison.)  He said he was just calling to tell me that Chloe is awesome.  Uh. . . yeah, dude . . . next time tell me something I don't know.

 

"There's no goalie and no points."

We signed Miles up for soccer a few months ago and he's been asking every day since when his soccer starts.  On Monday all his dreams came true when he had his first soccer practice.

They divided all the preschoolers up into four teams from four countries.  Miles plays for Germany.  Viva la Germany!

Miles counted down the days until his first game.  Finally Saturday afternoon he got to play his first game.  I've never seen him so happy.

This is when the coach first put him in.  It's interesting to see the difference between a new four year old and an almost five year old.  Some of the little kids wouldn't go near the field.  Miles was pushed to the ground twice, but he just got up and kept playing.  He's a bruiser.

 

I'll let Miles explain what's happening in the following pictures.

"I was trying to knock that girl over, but I couldn't."

"I almost hit the ball with my head."  [No he didn't.]

"I got the ball and then THE GREEN TEAM TOOK IT AWAY!"

Me: You made a goal!

Miles: Yeah.  Just two.

Me: You did a really great job in the game!

Miles: There's no goalie and no points.

Me: Right, but your team played really well.

Miles: Yeah.  And there's no goalie and no points.

"Apple Festival"

Last week the kids and I were driving around and I spotted a huge sign for an apple festival in the nearby town of Kirkwood.  I looked it up as soon as we got home and the city website promised me all kinds of apple related good times, including: apple pies, apple cider, apple samples, apple cooking demonstrations, apple interpretive dances (or something.  I forget.)  Anywho, it sounded BIG and EXCITING and FUN!  I spent the rest of the week talking up the apple festival to my kids.  This morning we headed to Kirkwood to go crazy with apple fun!

The "Apple Festival" (I'll be using air quotes from now on) was located at the farmer's market and at first glance, all we could see was the produce and such that's usually on display there every Saturday.  (Hey, Lady Selling Cakes That Don't Contain Sugar, Salt, or Butter, stop trying to make that happen.)

We eventually stumbled upon this table containing not one, not two, but THREE different kinds of apples to taste.  I liked the honey crisp.  Chloe liked the gala.  Those girls at the end of the table were from Smoothie King and they were giving out samples of apple cinnamon smoothies.  (So good!)  And THAT, my friends, was the "Apple Festival." 

We all loved the smoothies.  Except Miles.  He held his for about five minutes and then said he just wanted a free apple like the one Chloe had.  A man who seemed like an in charge sort of person yelled to the crowd that we could take as many of his apples as we wanted for free.  When we came back to get some for Miles, that man wasn't around.  I made Miles steal his own apple.  He's cute, and all, but I can't go back to jail.

We sat on the bench laughing about how lame the "Apple Festival" turned out to be.  I bought some fresh bread, tomatoes, and an apple pie and took them home for the best lunch, ever.  When I asked the woman at the cash register if they had any apple cider, she said, "No, it's too early for cider.  I can't believe they decided to have an apple festival this early.  That's kinda silly."

Agreed.  You know what else is kinda silly?  My boys.

Who's got two finger guns and loves apples?  THIS guy!

Good Morning, Sports Fans!

We love sports.  We're huge fans of the sports.  So last week we traveled all over the area showing love for various sports teams. 

Tuesday night Jeff and I headed to Busch Stadium to watch the Cardinals play the Reds.  Every year Jeff's work group rents out a party suite at Busch Stadium, but we've never been able to go.  This year we put our Cards shirts on, left the kids at home (Thanks, Emily!), and spent the evening eating free BBQ and nachos while some guy named Pat refilled our drinks.  It was pretty awesome.

The Cardinals won and we went home full.  As nice as it was to be close to the field, I kind of missed the view from the cheap seats.  (We couldn't even see the celebration fireworks from our seats.  Come on!)

Hey, remember that time Chloe was in a commercial for the St. Louis Rams?  As a super nice thank you, the Rams sent her two free tickets to Thursday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens.

They let all of the kids from the commercials have two free (sweet!) seats, two pregame field tickets, and free food. 

I felt kind of bad that such a great opportunity was wasted on a little girl who could not possibly care less about football.  One of the things that makes Chloe so awesome is that she's always so gracious.  She knew what a privilege it was to be there and had the best time, ever.

Chloe was kind enough to bring her daddy along to his first NFL game.  It's pretty awesome having kids with connections.

That night I got an email from my sister-in-law, Lori, saying she would be playing in a volleyball tournament in Columbia, MO the next two days.  Road trip!

(This is not a good picture, but it's the only one I had in focus with my stupid camera.  Next time I'll bring my good camera, even if it's heavy.) 

 

The kids didn't have school on Friday, so we drove to Columbia so they could finally meet their Aunt Lori and watch her kick some butt with the rest of the Idaho State University Women's Volleyball team.  ISU beat Arkansas and Lori was all kinds of awesome.

(I'm using every muscle in my body to keep Miles in this picture.  Little stinker.)

We had a short dinner with Lori and her parents before heading back home.  On the way home, I introduced the kids to The Three Amigos.  Best trip, ever.

On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, Harrison's soccer team played in a tournament.  They made it to the finals, but lost in the last game.

BTdubbs, it was 100 degrees every single day this week.  The heat was absolutely unbearable and watching those boys play so hard was brutal and inspiring all at once.

I think we decided that women's volleyball was our collective favorite game to watch this week, because it was in the air conditioned Hearnes Center.  Also because Lori is awesome.  Also air conditioning is awesome.