Bumper Crop of Oranges

Early this morning, we went over to Megan’s house to help out around the house, since Bo was leading a kids retreat out of town for the weekend. Grandmommie made a breakfast casserole, so we got to eat together first, and then hang out for a little while together.

They have three large dogs, and Emerson always loves getting to see them and say hi to them. The chocolate lab, Bear, was giving Emerson little kisses on her hands through the crate, and it was so sweet. He’s a big ginormous dog, but he was being so gentle with my tiny girl.

Before it was time to leave, Emerson and Grammy had to go check out this tree in the yard, and Emerson was peeling off all the bark!

We put Emerson down for a nap practically as soon as we got home, right at noon. She only slept for a little over an hour, so when she woke up we had a light, late lunch mostly made up of snacks, since we had a had a big hearty breakfast this morning.

And then we went outside to finish harvesting all of the oranges off of our tree. It took probably about 30 minutes, and we got all that we could reach. We used a garden rake to get some of the higher ones, but there are still some at the very top, about 10 feet high, that we can’t reach, and we’re not exactly sure of what to do with this now!

We gave a basketful of about 10 to our mail lady as she delivered our mail today. Then we took another couple of baskets next door to our elderly neighbors. They loved getting to see Emerson again (it had been a while since we last saw them), and they even invited us in for a few minutes. She went up and gave both of them hugs, and was so sweet.

Between all of the orange picking, we also just took some time to put our phones down and run around the backyard for a while. Emerson absolutely loves being outdoors, and she was having a ball this afternoon. We walked back and forth across the backyard, and up and down our little hill. I would get on my knees at the bottom of the hill, and she would run down the hill into my arms just giggling and squealing and laughing and so excited when I would wrap her up in a hug. She did it over and over again, and it was just so incredibly sweet.

I honestly believe we ended up picking anywhere between 200 and 300 oranges. I gave away about 30 yesterday, another 50 today (forgot to mention earlier that we took baskets for the family this morning), and this giant pile is what we still have left. when I send these photos to the family text earlier today, Grandmommie replied and said we had a bumper crop! I loved that phrase, so I’m stealing it for today’s title!

We took some more to Jeff’s parents tonight, and we plan to take a large amount of these to church tomorrow. A few people have specifically asked for some, so we’ll have baskets for them, and then we plan to just put a box in a common area free for whoever wants to grab them!

After all the orange picking and playing in the backyard, spent a few minutes just reading a book by the back sliding glass door, with screen door pulled open.

Here’s a photo of the top of the tree with the few oranges that are left. It’s hard to tell between all the leaves, but there are probably 20 or 30 left up there still.

right before closing time, I ran in the library super fast to pick up a few books I had been on hold for. I have been waiting on “Next Year in Havana” since sometime early last summer, and I’ve been wanting to read “Maus” for almost 10 years. When I first heard of it, I wasn’t able to find it anywhere, not at the library, or Amazon, or ebay. Something made me think of it a few days ago, and I happened to check the library and it was there!

And then we ended up back at the mall just wandering around and doing some window shopping. We also stopped in the dollar corner to grab some Valentine’s cards for Emerson’s class for next week. We found a box of 30 Snoopy themed cards, that will be perfect for her little friends next week! And now that I’m thinking about it, we might even send a few to her church friends tomorrow!

Jeff’s mom met us at the mall, and we just did a little bit of wandering around before we ended up back in the food court for dinner. once again, we thought about getting a few different kinds of things, but all ended up back at Mandarin Express for Chinese food. There were no complaints from Emerson though, since she absolutely loves Chinese food!

When we first got home, we went straight to the bathtub. I got the tub all full and put me in, and before I could even kneel down on the side of the tub, she had already pooped in the water! one of the pieces floating around in front of her, and it scared her and she freaked out and screamed! while I got a cup and scooped it out and into the toilet, she turned around and saw the other pieces, and freaked out and screamed at those too! poor little thing was a bit traumatized, but I could not stop laughing at her, freaking out over her own poop! I pulled myself together long enough to drain the tub and start over. and then since she was so upset, I rewarded her with bubbles since she specifically asked me for them. She knows the word “bubble,” and repeats it over and over again some nights!

this sleepy little girl was busy after a long, full day, and only a short nap. She barely made it through Reading time before she was almost falling asleep in my lap. She still wanted me to hold her and rock her for almost 30 minutes, with two attempts to lay her down and during that time, but I did eventually get her to sleep and laying in her own crib.

Jeff actually fell asleep around 7 p.m., while I was giving her a bath. he still had his shoes and glasses on and everything. He woke up long enough to take them off, and then curled up under the covers and has been asleep ever since.

I am singing at our church Valentine’s banquet tomorrow, so after I got Emerson to bed, I went out to the car and practiced my song a few times, where I knew the noise wouldn’t bother the rest of my little sleeping family. I have now painted my fingernails, and have been watching “Call the Midwife” while blogging. I’m going to enjoy my alone time, and watch another episode now, and curl up with a cup of hot tea.