Livin' In the Sweet Virginia Breeze: Goodbye August, Hello September!

We picked close to 5 bushels of butterbeans this week and that is from just 2 rows. The row on the left is what was picked this week, the row on the right is for anyone who wants to come and pick them!

Yes my baby girl is holding watermelon by herself again! We opened up two this week and though she hesitated at first when she saw Nathan slurping away on a chunk she couldn't resist it and had her Daddy give her a slice.

I took some pictures the past week of AnnaBelle is some of her dresses that she got in early Spring for her birthday. Most of them were 18 month dresses and the all fit like a charm. I let her run barefoot down the lane in the front of the house and she couldn't believe the freedom she had been given, and with a dress on too! She took full advantage, squatting down in the rocks and laying them on the front of her dress.

That is her rock pile collection in the front of this gorgeous little dress.

Spending time in the garden watching flowers and butterflies.

I framed this using Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo. This dress also has a beautiful short-waisted knit sweater with little purple flowers. It's an absolutely beautiful dress given to her by her Godmother, T.

Nathan has suddenly taken an interest in soccer, again. I moved the goal, Wednesday over to the field in front of the garden and he has been playing every day since.

He was even telling me how to stop the ball and soft kick. So I guess the $25 camp at Chowan paid off.

AnnaBelle was ready to play, dress or not.

Yes she didn't mind taking a tumble, and Nathan can deal them out on a regular basis.

These cool days this past week have been a taste of Fall. It's my favorite season. The sights of the harvested crops, the glow of the cotton on a moonlit night, and the smell of the changing leaves and freshly dug peanuts. Football games on Friday night and College games on Saturday, and of course the World Series and I am rooting on my beloved Yankees to make it this year!

This butterfly found its way to the garden for another picture this week. I told Nathan it was my mother, Nanny to him, and that she had turned into a butterfly to come and watch him play. He was fascinated with it and followed it from flower to flower.

You can't enjoy the summer without a popsicle. This was only the second one AnnaBelle has ever eaten on her own and she was sticky from head to toe, after this pic was taken they proceeded to play in the sandbox and emerged with it everywhere and in every crevice.

Nathan starts preschool on Tuesday and he has Mrs. Mitchell for his teacher. Bless his heart he is only 4 going on 5 in November but he has the attention span of about 2 minutes on a good day. I have all the faith in the world that this will be the woman to get my little man ready for kindergarten in the Fall of next year. She is great and full of energy and enthusiasm. I like her no nonsense approach to discipline, they are warned once and then its in the red. Getting in the red around here equates to losing something of value, the ds, a prized toy, or television/wii time. I'm going to see how it goes the first couple of weeks and I'm hoping he will be consistent in paying attention and following directions. But I am glad to have him back in school and into the routine of things again!

He has had a fun filled summer of full independence around the farm. But I can see the excitement of going back to preschool. When we walked in to meet the teacher on Wednesday he walked way ahead of me and knew exactly where he was going. He greeted the teacher by himself with no hesitation. My little man doesn't know a stranger and is always greeting with a smile.

This one will be going to the same school in another 2 years unless they offer a 2 year old class. I am finding out how quickly the time flies! But I'm absorbing every moment of it.