30 weeks

We are just loving this Fall season. The boys have decided they like this season the most. No bugs! I tend to agree.

 

Two families who are close to ours recently moved away. We were able to met up at Carter's Mountain to pick some apples together. Even though it was short, it was so nice to be all together.

 



Annabelle misses her buddies. They were all born within 8 weeks of each other.

We were able to get our first good family photo with "new baby" showing!

 

 Annabelle and Grace... sweet friends that go "way" back.

Mama and baby at 30 weeks.

New Sneaks

It's normally really hard to find them used, but this year I was able to find some great Stride Rite and Saucony sneakers for the kids in excellent condition for CHEAP. So, now they all have new sneakers for the Fall/Winter season... and it didn't break the break. Mama is quite pleased.

 

When I came home with the shoes, they immediately went to get dressed to go for a "run" with Daddy. Annabelle went too, that's why I put run in quotes. I got such a hoot out of the boys' striped socks, Sam's pulled way up, and Joe's paired with plaid shorts. Now, when Annabelle says "running shoes" she always puts her hands in a running position and swings them back and forth! Too cute.

 



 

When I was younger and I saw kids dressed like this, I never understood why their parents let them do it. Then, I would promise to myself I would never let my kids look like that... once again I'm eating my words. Parenting sure is a constant lesson in humility.

Daddy the Farmer

During the first trimester of this pregnancy I should have been tending to the garden in full force, but I wasn't. I was too busy growing a human being from the size of a poppy seed to the size of a lemon. (It's amazing how exhausting that is). But for the sake of our garden, my sweet husband picked up the slack and took over it's care. Through that, he has found a love of gardening, or farming as he'd like to call it. The garden is now his.

 

When it was seconds away from death, I told him to just pull it all up and that it was a worthless cause. He insisted it could be saved. And sure enough, he was right. He did his research, got to work, and resuscitated it. Here's a recent pepper to prove it. I still have much to learn from this man.

 







New Ride

While in Smith Mountain Lake there was a kids consignment store that was going out of business and I found the exact stroller I was hoping to buy for a great price! The kiddos and I are thrilled. Just another step closer to being ready for our little girl's arrival.

 

It's been a long time since we've had a larger stroller and I didn't realize how much I loved having one. After I took this photo we went on a walk around the neighborhood and were able to be out for over an hour and a half marveling at the changing of the seasons, bees, butterflies, different kinds of plants and flowers, squirrels, checking out the new bridge in our neighborhood, and overall just enjoying this gorgeous weather. Apparently it doesn't take much to entertain the Eckerts.

 





Yogurt and Granola

If my family had it's way, they would eat yogurt with every single meal. We could easily go through a quart in one sitting. I finally found a recipe that I love, so I've been trying to make a batch each week to offset the cost. The health benefits are of course great, too.

 

 

This picture of Annabelle reminds me of the neighbor in the show Home Improvement, when you could never see his mouth. They always staged him so something was over his face. Ahhh, childhood memories.

So anyways... back to food. I've done the same with granola. It's amazing how quick and easy it is to buy these ingredients in the bulk section at Whole Foods, bake it yourself and you've got healthier and cheaper granola. I even added pumpkin puree to this mix and it gave it a subtle fall taste. Yum!

It is often a struggle to find the time to go these extra lengths for things, but as soon as we get into it, I'm reminded of how happy we are once they are made! The busier life gets, some things I've just given in and decided to buy, but I'm going to try to add making some yogurt and granola to our list because of how simple they are. And the smile on Andy and the kids' faces as they are eating them makes it all worth it. It's amazing how happy food can make someone :)

Gran Ran Turns 60!

We headed up to Maryland to celebrate Gran Ran's 60th birthday!

 



 

I caught this photo of Joseph and Annabelle dancing. It was such a treat watching their joy with one another just overflow.

 

 

The boys had a great time making Gran Ran his birthday cards. They spent forever on them, and they ended up being quite elaborate. It's been really cute watching them form a love for gift giving.

 



 

Samuel got a dollar for his birthday from someone and he decided he wanted to give it to Gran Ran.

 

 

Mom had put up a sign for me, too. It was very sweet. Randy's 60th sign and my 30th. He reminded me that only this year will I be half his age. After this, I will be more than half his age.

 

 

 

 

Gran Ran is such a blessing to our family in so many ways. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating this special man.

First Day of School

The new school year for Cornerstone Christian School starts the Wednesday after Labor Day. I had no idea how much we were going to be celebrating for the 3 days prior, so I was dragging a little that morning, but after a slow start, we jumped in with both feet.

 

The year is off to an awesome start and we are just loving the new things we've added into our schedule. Samuel and Joseph are both doing 1st grade work so it's quite nice to school them together. I'm not sure how long this will last, but as of right now they really enjoy having a buddy in all of their subjects.

 



 

Daddy says "Annabelle is two. She goes to school for people who are two." Can you tell she's excited?!

 



I'm feeling incredibly blessed once again to have the opportunity to teach my children at home. We are making such beautiful memories together and forming such special relationships. I am just soaking up these moments as much as I can.

As overwhelmed as I can get with comparing curricula and lesson planning, I always have to pause and remind myself that the reason we are schooling at home is not about the subjects we're learning, but about the discipleship relationships we have with our children. Stewarding their precious hearts and fostering a deep relationship with them is more critical to us than if they can impress others with their reading and math skills. That stuff will come, but for now, we're still working on the basics most days.

Mama Turns 30!

It's been almost a month since my birthday, and I am still on cloud 9. Andy completely blew me away celebrating me for my 30th birthday.

 

Sunday after church Andy surprised me with a trip to my favorite place on earth, The Sugar Tree Inn, which is where we went on our honeymoon. His parents came to stay with the kids as we went on our last getaway before "new baby" comes. This is one of the rooms we stayed at during our honeymoon.

 

That night he took me to an absolutely amazing farm to table restaurant. The food was out of this world. I'll never forget that meal as long as I live.

 





This photo is at breakfast the next morning. We had this same shot taken 8+ years ago on our honeymoon.

We have become such good friends with the inn keepers. They are so dear to us. They always say it feels like their kids are coming home to visit when we arrive.

 

Then on Monday as we left the B&B Andy had a day planned out for us to tour around several farms in the area. Labor Day Monday each year the farms in our area open up their grounds, give tours and have demonstrations throughout the day. We had gone with the kids last year and had a great time, but didn't get to many. So, he surprised me with a day of touring different ones by ourselves.

 

So, Tuesday, on my actual birthday, Andy's parents left and Andy took off the day to spend it as a family. The kids painted a wooden picture frame for me, and Andy had us all take family pictures so we would have some to remember the day. He claims I'm never in pictures with all of my kids :) He drove us up to the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of my favorite places, to get these photos.

 



I think they turned out pretty good for using our self-timer on our camera and an ironing board!

Then we went to the Virginia Safari Park. Part of it you can drive through in your car and feed the animals. They come right up to your car. It was such a fun experience.

 

 

 

This kangaroo has a baby in her pouch. You can see it's head if you look closely. We have a slight obsession with kangaroos in our family.

We found this restaurant and couldn't pass it up.

Then, when we got home that night, Andy surprised me with telling me he made arrangements to send me and my very best friends to go out for coffee and dessert to end my day. It was incredible. I rarely get time with any of these women one-on-one, but the fact that all four of us were together for an evening together was just so special.

 

 

I cant even count how many times I cried over the long weekend. I was just so overwhelmed by it all. I could not have felt more loved. The fact that he knows me so incredibly well and arranged it so that all of my favorite things were packed into my celebration just blew me away. I am incredibly blessed.