Blog, Fall, Family, kids, park

Celebrating fall with apple picking


Happy first day of Fall! We went apple picking this past Sunday and I thought the first day of fall would be the perfect time to share!

baby boy holding and eating an apple

It’s been our tradition to pick apples to kick off the Fall festivities. And I guess if you want to be technical, we didn’t actually go in fall . But I say it still counts! To start out, the number one rule when you go apple picking, you HAVE to buy apple cider donuts. Don’t argue with me, just do it. Trust me. The kids already started scarfing them down before I could get a decent picture. They are totally worth all the sticky fingers and faces that will follow.

toddler girl eating an apple cinnamon donut

girl taking bites of the donut

Desmond’s face just proves that he agrees.

cute baby boy smiling

At the orchard we go to, there are a few places for the kids to play (the bounce houses cost extra) but they are always more than content with even the simplest playground equipment. Don is working on some new projects with the GoPro (borrowed from our dear friends.) I hope that he is able to share those with you before too long! I just couldn’t resist this picture of Kingston’s pure happiness, and Desmond’s pure boredom.

dad and boys going down a slide

After a bumpy tractor ride to the orchards, we were ready to pick some apples. I’m always jealous of those people who experience those beautiful overcast days for apple picking, perfect lighting for gorgeous photos. We had the full on sun, hitting our faces awkwardly at almost all times. Anyone have advice for shooting in direct daylight? Anyway, a sweet woman asked if she could take a family picture of us. The kids may not look super thrilled in this photo (maybe a bit confused? haha) but it’s still a sweet picture and I was so thankful for her thoughtfulness!

big family

boy holding a green apple

Desmond is super serious about his apple bites. He was cracking us up. As long as he could gnaw on an apple, he was content (even while making this adorable scrunched up face!) But if he got peel in his mouth, he would start spitting it on the ground and then throw the apple. But then his apple was gone so he’d start crying for another one. Repeat cycle–over and over haha. We love going to Thierbach’s because you can eat as many apples off of the trees as you want. And our group ate quite a few.

baby boy eating and digging face into apple

dad and baby

I thought I could easily stand there all afternoon, watching her take her bites, quietly munching, while she watched her brothers pull apples from all the different trees.
little girl looking at apple
girl watching brothers pick apples

Don snapped this of me and the crew. We weren’t winning any group photo awards that day haha. At that point, everyone was ready to head back to the tractor and head home.
mom and kids posing for picture

Love this little crew—sun spots and all!!
the kids love apples
5 kids sitting in the grass

young boy looking up into tree

Apple picking is just one of my favorite ways to celebrate fall. And while I’m not a fan of pumpkin flavored anything, I do love visiting the pumpkin patch! So that will be on our agenda pretty soon. What are your favorite fall activities? Any good ideas for us to do as a family of almost 8??

Blog, new house

Boys’ room Makeover (Before + After)




the boys bedroom

Last week I shared Part 1 of the kids’ room makeovers where I talked about their amazing bedding. Now I’m sharing the other parts of their rooms. Part of me was hesitant to share because I feel like their rooms are still missing elements. But their rooms have come a long way so I thought I would share what we have now and I can update down the road. (I’m also admittedly not a great interior photographer–the lighting is so off! I just thought I would throw that out there since I know you’re already thinking it 😉 )

I’ll start with the boys’ room

(before)plain and boring boys room

This room was already white when we moved in. I knew that I wanted to keep the walls white, but I wanted to add some modern elements to the room. The boys and I tried to come to an agreement on a design for a statement wall but ultimately, I went with my original idea, swiss crosses made out of washi tape. (They had some ambitious ideas–like a hand painted solar system, hence the final decision.) I bought a roll of black washi tape from Target for $3 and it ALMOST filled the entire wall. I ended up having to go back to buy another roll. But you really can’t beat that price for a fun little update.

(after)the brothers room now with washi tape crosses and shelving

I thought about putting together a little DIY post for the decals. But I quickly realized that it didn’t really require too many instructions so I nixed that plan. But if you are interested in taking on this project, I just cut each piece into 2 1/2 inch strips and then attempted to eyeball their placement on the wall. When I realized that wasn’t the best plan, I had Don figure out the math to have them all evenly spaced. Even so, they are still lopsided and imperfect but I don’t think it’s noticeable when you walk in their room. We also moved their toy box to their closet to give more floor space. And then we promptly filled that space with Desmond’s playpen haha.

This moon print is from Redwood Paper Co. The shelf is from Ikea. The amazing ship was thrifted!

toy sail boat and moon picture on shelf with washi tape plus signs on wall

This is the other side of the room. The door on the left is their closet and the door to the right leads out to the hallway.

(before)empty white walls

We added these spice racks from Ikea as bookshelves. The books were being stored in a big tote in their closet. Once we installed these shelves, they started pulling books out more often. Now they just keep rotating what books go up on their shelves.

(after)
4 little white bookshelves on the wall with kids books

 

(Before)toy boat and blue moon picture on dresser

In addition to this dresser, we have another one in their closet and the bunkbed also has drawers in the stairs. Desmond’s clothes are in Evangeline’s room for the time being. Storage will probably become more of an issue as the boys get older and bigger. But this works for us for now.

I had been wanting an American flag to hang above their dresser. And amazingly, at the same time as I was looking for a free one, someone at church was getting rid of one! Liam is especially obsessed with the American flag, so I loved being able to fit this into their room design.

(after)american flag on the wall


I want to hang something on that wall, above their bed. But I’m still searching for something. These 3 prints were free printables that I found on Pinterest and the frames were thrifted. 

3 pictures of the moon on the wall

And that wraps up the boys’ room tour! Even though there are still changes to be made, I love that we were able to update their room without spending much money. Besides the bedding, this update cost us probably $30 or less. I think I covered just about everything but if you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the comments!

In the next couple of days, I’ll post Evangeline’s room! Hope you’re having a good week!