It's a Happy Apple Day

Slowly but surely, we're getting the lyrics to the Happy Apple song. It's to the tune of "It's a Small World". Here's what we have so far:

It's a world of paper, a world of glue
[don't know the next several lines]

Refrain:
It's a Happy Apple World
It's a Happy Apple World
It's a Happy Apple World
[don't know the rest]

We're working on getting the rest of it.

Here's the prayer they say before snack and which Mary Grace says now before she eats:

The Lord is good to me.
Thank you, Lord, for giving me the things I need
The sun, the rain, and the appleseed,
The Lord is good to me.

Beach Day!

The weather was so beautiful today that I decided to take the girls to the beach this morning. We put on our suits and headed down to Amelia, our favorite beach. The girls splashed around and dug in the sand for an hour or so and then we headed back home for naps.

Good Dog

Here's a photo of sweet Daisey with the girls. Notice that Jackson is nowhere in sight.

Another Busy Week in the Marsh

We've had another busy week. It was back to school on Monday for Mary Grace. Then on Tuesday, we managed to fit in a trip to the Scarecrow Walk downtown before Bible Study for Stephen and me. Mary Grace and Elsie dressed up in their Halloween costumes (well, we may change them, more on that later) and we headed downtown with our treat buckets (Elmo and Disney Princess -- I'll let you guess which little crab had which bucket). The girls had fun getting their faces painted and collecting candy from the downtown merchants. We also ran into many friends and took some fun pictures. Then it was off to the races to get to Bible Study on time (plus I had to bring dinner).


The picture above is particularly funny to me. First of all, if you look closely, you'll see that it's a banker sitting behind his desk talking on the phone. Satilla Bank put this scarecrow together. The president of Satilla is Gary Willis. This scarecrow was "Scary Willis", according to the nameplate on his desk. And you'll see that there is a watering can full of "service" on his desk just waiting to be poured all over Satilla's lucky customers (like the Salt Marsh Kinneys). The other funny thing about this picture is that Mary Grace posed sideways so that the butterfly painted on her face was clearly visible. But she still managed to say a big "CHEESE!" Elsie's just crying because she didn't want to have anything to do with Scary Willis.

The Fire Department visited Happy Apple on Wednesday. The Apples got to see the firetruck and learnd to "stop, drop, and roll". They also frosted cookies with red icing. Mary Grace wore her dalmation dress for the occasion. I didn't get any pictures of her in it but will post some when I do. It's too cute! Elsie has the matching dress and they are reversible with a snowman for Christmas on the other side.

Also on Wednesday, Stephen and I went to a fundraiser for Jack Kingston, our Congressman. It was a small gathering and our friends, Jay and Laura came down for the occasion, so it was a good time. Afterwards, Jay, Laura, Stephen, and I went to Marianne's downtown for supper. Laura and I had the crab-stuffed grouper. Stephen had shrimp and grits. Jay wasn't feeling well so he just had a side of shrimp. It was all wonderful and the historic home that the restaurant is in is beautiful.

Today, the girls got haircuts again then we went shopping for a birthday gift for Mary Grace's friend, Ella Morgan. Ella Morgan is NOT a princess so it was hard for us to find the perfect thing for her. We settled on a paint-your-own pirate treasure chest and a Georgia t-shirt. Here's a photo of Mary Grace and Ella Morgan at the Scarecrow Walk:







You can see that Ella Morgan is Peter Pan, not a princess!







After that excursion, I dropped the girls off at Ms. Julie's house for lunch and naptime since I had a lunch interview. The interview went well and the girls had fun visiting with their friends at Ms. Julie's. Ryleigh (Mary Grace's best friend and fellow Red Apple) was so excited when I dropped them off that she wouldn't stop running around the room. Then we went to the grocery store to stock up on "pop pops" (lollipops). We even sampled a little "liverwurst" from the Boars Head lady and bought some after we realized that's it's really just liver mush.

So, about the costumes: My plan was to let Mary Grace be Cinderella since we already have the dress and she loves Cinderella. I thought it would be cute to make Elsie a mouse. You know, Cinderella and her mouse. Elsie even carried "pearls" for Mary Grace. Anyway, no one got it so I'm re-thinking that plan. We've also thought about Ariel and Flounder. Mary Grace would really like to be Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) but I'm not sure what would go with that. This may be my last year when Elsie really doesn't care what her costume is so I'm trying to take advantage of it with the coordinating costumes!



We're off tomorrow after Happy Apple for Aunt Gin's wedding in Jefferson. Mary Grace is so excited that she can't stand it! She's told everyone that she's going to be a flower girl and that she's going to walk down the aisle with her cousin, Bradlee. She also says that Bradlee is her cousin while John Morgan is Elsie's. She doesn't get that they all are the same to each other. She thinks that Bradlee is hers alone.

We're all excited to be part of this big day for Ginger. We're praying that Grandaddy heals fast and can at least be available by phone for the event. We know it's going to be a beautiful, joyous occasion and we are so glad to be part of it!

Squeeky Doll

Elsie always giggles when she runs and it makes the cutest little noise. It's like someone's squeezing her belly like a squeeky doll. This afternoon, she was running down the hallway from the front door to the den because she was so excited that Stephen was home. She giggled the entire way. I was standing at the door so I got the rear view and it was just so cute. Her little legs kind of swung out to the side and she was rolling her head around as she ran. She thought she was the funniest thing! I could just squeeze her!

Back to School

After a five-day weekend, it's back to school for Mary Grace tomorrow. School was out at the end of last week for Fall break. I think she's excited about going back. She loves her school and talks about it all the time. She also sings about it all the time, like this: "Red Apples to the gate. Hurry up and don't be late!" That must be how the teachers get them back to the building after outside time. Then there's "It's a Happy Apple Day". I can't quite understand all the words to that one yet but it mentions scissors, crayons, and paper.

Scarecrows

Our friends, the Rogowskis, came over for dinner tonight. After we ate, we took the kids outside and made some scarecrows. We made a man and a girl and plan to put them in front of Stephen's office, which is on the main street in town. That way, the kids will be able to see their scarecrows on their way to church and Happy Apple.
We had so much fun and are so thankful to have found good friends in our little town!

Hay Days

We had a great time downtown this morning looking at all the scarecrows. We had a little change of plans and will be making ours tomorrow with the kids at church instead of this morning. But we had fun walking around downtown and seeing all the creative scarecrows. Here are some pictures:

Long Time, No Blog

Things have been so busy around here lately that I have not made the time to do my updates. I'm hoping to get back into a regular routine with them now that I'm not working and have more time.


We're at the end of our first official "at home" week and we're all settling in pretty well. Mary Grace didn't have school this Wednesday or Friday because of the fall break so we've really had a true at home week. We've got a pretty good routine going: 8:30 breakfast, then playtime either at home or at the park or at the library then lunch around 11:30 then nap til 2:30 or 3 then we go outside and have craft time on the front porch. We also have to fit in some errands sometimes and we usually do those in the morning. We're sticking to our 8pm bedtime, too.


We've also joined the Rec Center so we've gone there a few times. They have a tot drop so Stephen and I can work out together while the girls play. We'll probably go back there tonight after Stephen gets home from work.


We went to our friends, the Rogowskis, home for dinner last night. Here are some pictures of the kids:

Mary Grace, Elsie, and Olivia

Elsie and Benjamin

I don't realize how much Elsie has that paci in her mouth until I go back and look at pictures I've taken. I always wish I had taken it out of her mouth before taking the photo. I'll have to try to remember to do that.

We have a big weekend ahead, just like the last two. This weekend starts the St. Marys Hay Days festival so we'll be going to the church tomorrow morning to make a scarecrow. Stephen's firm is also doing a scarecrow. Most of the businesses in St. Marys participate and they leave the scarecrows out all over town for the month of October. Some of them are pretty funny. I think Stephen's firm is going to dress one up like a judge.

On Saturday night, we're going to an oyster roast. It's a fundraiser for the local Republican party. There's certainly lots of that going on the next few weeks!

Last weekend we had the Rock Shrimp festival in St. Marys. It's a festival that Kiwanis does every year in October. I ran the 5K race on Saturday morning and Stephen brought the girls out to watch. Well, actually, they were half an hour late so they missed the whole race. Stephen had the girls all set up in the little chairs on the corner waiting for me to run by when he saw me drive off on the way home. Luckily I had my cell phone so he called me. I parked the car around the corner and ran up the street so the girls could see me "race". They never knew the difference!