Corn and Cotton Balls

I think I’m in denial. About old man winter. It’s hard to believe he might be here to stay. (Missing a summer will do that to you.) But Monday morning at 5:30 I woke to the unmistakable scrape of a snowplow.

And there it was. Whispy whiteness everywhere.

It glistened in the sunlight as we ate breakfast. The slightest shake of a branch sent thousands of flakes falling – glittering like pixie dust. Much to the girls’ delight.

Despite my reluctance to welcome Mr. Winter, I must say – there is nothing quite as beautiful as fresh, untouched snow.

And being pulled around the yard in a sled by Daddy isn’t half bad. It’s a rush! Especially when he sends you spinning 360 degrees at the end of every ride.

So I concede. Winter is unofficially here. And as final salute to my favorite season – my last Autumn post.

During September I initiated The Cottonball Quest. An attempt to establish order again after being MIA Mommy for several months (or so I felt). We needed a little motivation for good behavior.

So I took these “buckets” from our NICU stay and let the girls decorate them. Then I explained the quest:

Your mission…should you choose to accept it:

Get cotton balls!

How?

Obey quickly, share, let someone go first, use good manners, help without asking, show kindness. Basically any good behavior will win you a cotton ball while bad behavior will mean losing a cotton ball.

The reward for filling your bucket?

An outing of your choosing (with subliminal guidance, of course).

Ahhhh… full buckets. A beautiful sight. It took weeks for all three girls to top the plastic. Some days they were in “negative cotton” but eventually a net gain bought them a trip to the Carousel and lunch with Mommy. And In October… the much sought after… Pumpkin Festival!

Virginia friends, this wasn’t Cox Farms. Hard to beat Cox Farms. But it was the closest thing we could find.

Cornbelly’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Festival.

Here are the Pumpkin Princesses sitting in what they knew HAD to be Cinderella’s Coach. I learned later that this actually was the coach used in NYC for the 2005 release of Cinderella.

Face Painting. Rainbows… and Lady Bugs.

Hay Ride.

Duck Racing. This was a blast. PVC pipe. Water pumps. And plastic ducks. Pump your ducks to one side and someone at the other end pumps them back. I think Doug might have had more fun than the girls!

And the Corn Maze. Which was a total hit! The girls had so much fun zig-zagging through the trails, cutting through stalks of corn, gathering ears of corn, and playing hide and seek. It was everyone’s favorite event at the festival.

“Corn Ears” and “Uni-Corn” (Oh. Doug is so clever.)

Sami’s Bounty

A sweet face in the afternoon light.

Disappearing into the corn. “I’m Melting…” Field of Dreams. Remember? Love that movie.

Jack-o-lantern Tower. This must have been very cool at night.

And hitchin’ a ride on the Cow Train.

It was a wonderful day. And we owe Grandma Nae for watching the boys all afternoon so we could venture out.

Doug has been home all week. Thank goodness. We’ve both had the gomboo (Dad – how do you spell that? I grew up saying it but never wrote it! Maybe we should just call it the necrotizing nose pest!) The kids are on the tail end of colds, even the boys. And Sami is still fighting a double ear infection. Doug’s done a lot of holding and getting up in the night. I’m so grateful for him. And for health. True blessings.

Tomorrow is Turkey Day. We’re all feeling better. And I’m looking forward to gathering with family, watching my girls play with their cousins, sitting next to my husband while we snuggle our boys, stuffing myself with stuffing (my favorite side dish) and savoring every bite of that oh so divine pumpkin pie. Let the Holidays begin.