Apple Picking

I wanted to share with you all the fun we had earlier this month when we went apple picking at Cater's Mountain in Charlottesville, VA. We had never done this before, even though several friends had been telling about it for years. The day was beautiful and after a really windy, narrow drive up the mountain, we arrived to a spectacular view at the top. They had almost every variety of apples to pick and had several barrels full to just purchase if you wanted. Of course, we wanted to pick. We enjoyed trying Jonagold apples, which became the favorite of the day, with Sam eating 4 of them!!! We also picked Red Delicious. We enjoyed warm cider doughnuts (so yummy!!), a hayride, and climbing the trees in the orchard as well.

After the apple picking, we went to a park at the bottom of the mountain to hike through the wood on a little nature walk and then into downtown Charlottesville to the Marketplace, where we walked around and got some ice cream. what a fun day!

Selling the house

As you have probably heard by now, our house is currently on the market because Steve has gotten a new job down in Alabama. He likes the new job and the area we'd be locating to but we need to sell our house up here first and the housing market right now is slow here. Steve has been in alabama since June and I have been here with the kids. Steve flys up every 4 weeks to visit for a long weekend. He'll be here this Friday morning until Monday late afternoon.

To add to the slow market, we live in an area where everyone wants to be, BUT there is a lot of new construction and a lot of existing homes on the market. Wachovia bank was bought out and a lot of people relocated to St. Louis this past year, two from our neighborhood alone. We live in a neighborhood called Beckenham that has only 32 homes, 4 cul-de-sacs, but lots of families with kids. It is a great place to live with kids. My children just need to walk out the front door for playmates. Sometimes the kids all get together and play a game of kickball or wiffleball in the cul-de-sac. Our realtor told us we are competing with about 100 other houses just in the same price range and square footage in a 5 mile radius. Crazy, right? We'll see what happens...

Cheering

We are deep into cheering season for Felicia.She is 9 now and in the 4th grade. This is her 4th year cheering for the Clover Hill Bulldogs and she loves it. Often her coaches and others comment that she sure is the loudest cheerleader on the squad! Last night we had homecoming festivities at school including a ride on the float, dinner, announcing homecoming court (yes, even for elementary school!) etc.
Today is the homecoming game at 6pm. Next weekend is her cheer competition, where teams from all throughout the region compete for trophies for their cheer/dance routines. Felicia's squad only has 10 girls, she is the "flyer", the terminology used in cheering for the one they put up in the air. She is usually chosen for this because she is small and lightweight. She loves this and is never afraid to go up.
the football season is technically over after today's game, but our team is undefeated and next week we start playoff games. Last year they won the "Superbowl". so, we are looking at a few more weeks of cheering!

Welcome to my blog!

Hello to all of our family and friends. Over the years I've realized that so many of you do not get pictures and updates on our family's daily lives, just the big events. But everyone's lives are truly lived in the day to day, so this will give you a glimpse into our everyday world. We welcome you to see what is going on with us and to add your comments when you choose to. I hope you enjoy reading our blog!