The day Zachary has been waiting for all year long

Zachary absolutely, positively loves pumpkins. We're not entirely sure why but since his very first fall, he's been hooked. If he had his way, we'd have a jack-o-lantern in our home 365 days a year. (Poor kid. Mommy is way to particular for that to ever happen!)

Thanks to several trips to local pumpkin patches to indulge the little ones obsession, we ended up with five pumpkins...two more than we usually get. They've been sitting on our front porch for weeks and, lucky me, we've gotten to talk about when we were going to carve them pretty much every time we enter the house. Well, this Sunday we finally did it...we carved our pumpkins!

Although Jacob enjoys this activity his enthusiasm couldn't hold a candle to Zachary's. Honestly, you'd have thought it was his birthday!

I'll let pictures tell the next part of the story...

The boys supervising me as I drew Zack's jack-o-lantern face. He had very specific instructions!

Removing the seeds.

Daddy prepping Jacob's pumpkin. He wanted something a little different.

Andy say this one looks posed...which it was! I was mostly done with the carving by the time he was able to take the picture. I really wanted proof that I participated this year. Until now, pumpkin carving has been very much Andy's domain.

Zack's jack-o-lantern

Jacob and Daddy...and the Bat symbol!

The final product...

and then that night...

The boys love watching the carving but we know they are a little disappointed that they can't do more of the actual work. Since we had so many extras this year, we'd talked on and off about painting the two small ones but never really got around to it. As we headed inside after placing the carved pumpkins on the front porch, Zack looked at the little ones and said, "Now we can paint those." I thought for a moment and decided, why not? The boys were thrilled at the chance to completely create their own pumpkin faces!

Jacob and his finished project. He decided it wouldn't be complete without freckles. (I love Jacob's smile in this picture!)

Zack working hard. This is the front...eyes, nose, mouth...and he's working on the back, which he painted entirely red. Daddy asked if it was the hair. The answer was, "No, I'm painting the edges."

Pass...shoot...score!

It's fall and at our house and that means soccer! We're actually in the final weeks of the season but it took me until now to get action shots that actually showed some decent action. They move so fast out on the field that by the time the camera takes the picture you never know what you are going to get. (Add to that a very busy, constantly changing schedule and you get more than two weeks in between posts!)

Andy is coaching Jacob's team again this year and overall it's been going well. Zachary and I attend the practices as "moral support" and we've been at all the games...me cheering Jacob on, Zachary playing with any of the younger siblings he can find.

This year is a little different from the past two because Jacob now plays in the U8 (under 8) division. The division he was in last year (U6) involved the kids in our soccer club being placed on teams and those teams just played each other. Now that he's older, his team plays teams in other soccer clubs in the area. That means that we actually have to travel for some of the games! (Nothing major, just 20 or so minutes at the most, but still something new!)

There are two other big changes. The teams now have seven players on the field on the time, instead of five. Also, the field grew! Each year the size of the playing field gets a bit larger...a great way to build up their endurance for the big field they'll play on when they're older. None of these things seem to be more than Jacob can handle but that may be because one thing hasn't changed...after games, there is still snack!

The "official" soccer portrait. They do offer the opportunity to be photographed professionally but we chose to do it on our own. After watching everyone else on Picture Day, Jacob knew just how to pose when we did it at home!

I always like to get a shot of his number. It changes every season and I'm afraid that someday I won't remember which one he is in the action shots!

Jacob's in the front going for the ball.

Jacob has possession of the ball and is being backed up by his teammates. (It was a cloudy, rainy day. This picture was dark and I attempted to lighten it up.)

Going after the ball.

Playing goalie

Growing up way too fast (or the first day of preschool)

Today was Zachary's first day of preschool. He was so ready to go...and I so wasn't ready for him to be there! I'm still reeling from the fact that my baby is old enough to be in preschool.

He is in the preschool lab at the Lebanon County Career and Technical center. This program is the same one that Jacob attended. There are nine high school age girls teaching the children under the supervision of a certified teacher. According to the newsletter they sent home there are 13 kids in his class. You can't beat that student-teacher ratio!

He had a great day and was all smiles when he came out of the classroom. Just like his big brother, his favorite part of the day was recess. When pressed for a second favorite, he told me about the art project he made. The funniest part of the story of his day was that he was upset because girls were in his class. They kept trying to say hello to him and he would tell them he wanted to play by himself. As he said with furrowed brow, "I don't want any girl friends!" Gotta love it!

We celebrated the first day with a Happy Meal for lunch at McDonalds. Lucky kid even got to go inside and sit down to eat!

We took a few pictures before big brother left for the bus...and then a few more of just Zack...and then a few more at school. (I just can't help it!)

You have to have the silly one!

This picture seemed to capture his excitement the best. He was practically bursting!

Apples, apples, and more apples

Last year I learned that when it really feels like fall and you want to go apple picking...it's the end of the season. So this year, we started early. At the beginning of September Zack and I went and picked a half bushel of Gala apples. We're just finishing our last few.

Gala's are great eating apples but the good baking apples weren't ready to be picked quite yet. Zack and I headed back to the orchard last week and this time we brought our friends!

Zack, Evan, and Kelly with the baskets. These guys were worn out...we did a lot of walking that morning!

Zack and Evan

Kelly

With the help of my wonderful friend Cathy (Kelly's mom), I canned most of this second batch of apples. We now have fifteen pints of yummy, natural applesauce. It was surprisingly easy...thanks to the fact that she has this amazing (and low tech) contraption that does all of the work! We used our apple corers to section the apples, boiled them, and placed them in the funnel on top. Then you just turn the handle (over and over and over) and this device separates the skin and any stray seeds (or other yucky parts) from the good stuff! Once the first batch of applesauce was made, Cathy showed me the magic of canning. So many people I know here in Lebanon can some sort of fruit or vegetable that this is something I've wanted to learn how to do for several years. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher!

I think we'll have to make one more trip to the orchard next week. We've run out of apples and we haven't gotten a chance to make any sweets! What is fall without an apple pie...or maybe some crisp...or bread...or...yeah, we're definitely headed back!

Cousin visit

Since the day that we found out that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law were expecting their first child, my boys have been absolutely thrilled to finally have a cousin. They had heard of these elusive family members but with two parents who are the oldest children, who got married first, and who had the first children, they had yet to actually have one of their own.

We hated to be the bearers of bad news...specifically that their new cousin would start out as a tiny baby and that it would be a few years before he could start to run around and really play with them. Jacob seemed to grasp this idea fairly well...but it did modify his excitement a little. He was still thrilled to have a cousin. It's just, as he told me yesterday, "I'm not really into playing with really little kids."

Zachary on the other hand is incredible with younger children. This trait may have something to do with the fact that many of our friends have children 2 1/2 and younger and he is around them more than his big brother is. However, it's not just that. I think he enjoys being the big kid for once and that overall he is a really compassionate individual. For example, while driving on a relatively long trip with my friend Maggie and her two kids, he willingly gave up his balloon when I asked so that Travis, who is 11 months, "wouldn't be sad anymore."

On Saturday, September 5 we were finally able to get to Maryland to visit with our new family member. Benjamin Arthur Marsh was born on July 28 and was six weeks old. Jacob's main focus was on getting to play with Uncle Jon Jon's Playstation 2. Zachary, on the other hand, wanted to see his cousin. After weeks of, "He's so cute." when I showed him pictures on the computer, here he was in person. Zack made faces at him to make him smile and talked to him. It was incredible to watch my baby with his baby cousin!

Again, I forgot my camera. Luckily, Mary Katherine had hers and we were able to get some great cousin photos! After trying to get Jacob to hold Ben (since he's bigger and more predictable) and striking out, we asked Zack. He jumped at the chance! What a kid!

Zack and Ben (with a little help from Mommy's arm!)

We switched Ben to the other side and Zack was able to hold him on his own. (I'm right next to him, just out of the camera's range. However, I never needed to step in!)

The newest generation of Marsh boys!

Brockton...the next generation

I need to back up just a little and blog about two more vacation related topics.

Toward the end of our trip, we made a day trip to Brockton, MA. Not exactly a hot vacation spot but definitely a place full of memories.

Growing up, my grandmother's pool was a favorite summer destination. I have six cousins on that side of the family and they all lived within minutes of the house. (My sister and I were the only ones who didn't live close by.) That meant that when we visited, there were always playmates! A definite treat!

My aunt Lori and her husband now live in the house that she (and her three sisters and her brother) grew up in. There have been some changes to the landscaping...for example, the cabana of my childhood is gone but the canopy and comfy seating that replaced it aren't too shabby. ; ) However, the pool hasn't changed a bit! I can't imagine that there hasn't been quite a bit of maintenance in the last twenty plus years but it is exactly how I remember it.

This is only the second time my children have gotten to swim in the pool. My grandmother and my Aunt Janice were there to greet us when we arrived. Although most of the cousins no longer live in the area, my cousin Courtney still does. She and her three children came to play for the day. We invaded Lori and Bruce's backyard until they finished with their work day and were able to join us. Court's husband Ben made it about the same time they did.

It is such a blessing to share one of my favorite things about my childhood summers with my children. The day was perfect and the boys still talk about playing with their "cousins." (After trying to explain the second cousin thing once, we didn't spend that much time on it this time around!) The pool and playmates, who could ask for anything more!

Zachary "swimming"...his word, not ours!

Zack and Janny

Daddy and Jacob on the rafts.

I love the Daddy and boy pictures! If only I could get Zack to look at camera!

Griffin (the youngest of Court's boys) and Meme

Water guns were a big hit

Showing off the skills Aunt Janny taught him.

Daddy got in on the fun. It was an all out battle there for a while!

Owen, Courtney's middle son, who is older than Zack but not by too much

Warming up to one another...it took a little while for the boys to get comfortable enough with each other to actually interact. Luckily, we had the whole day!

Watching Jacob do his cannonball...the favorite dive!

Cole, Courtney's oldest. He and Jacob are just a few months apart in age.

This is Griffin's car. When Zachary saw it, his eyes lit up. He patiently waited while Griffin had his turn but once Zack changed out of his suit, he was dying for a ride. Meme was happy to oblige.

The boys doing their thing.

Jacob the shark. The shape of the kickboard inspired him!

"Cousins"

After dinner they made up some sort of game. I'm still not entirely sure what it was but they enjoyed themselves!

Mommy, Meme, and the boys at the end of a long...and wonderful...day