Giggle, Giggle, Quack

The Orpheum has productions through the year aimed to get kids to live performances. They are stage adaptations of children's books. This year the whole season is comprised of plays from some of our favorite books. The first was a couple of weeks ago, and Will and I took Trey. He got to go through the petting zoo and feed the llama, make a animal crown with the people from the Children's Museum, and sit next to Will the Thrill. It was lots of fun, and we would love to have more friends join us at the next show.

Gingerbread House-aka sugar high

We decorated our gingerbread house yesterday. I take that statement back I decorated, Trey placed a few decorations, and Trey and Robb gorged on every sugary confection they could get their hands on. Needless to say it was fun, and I think we got a pretty cute product.

Thankful

I am of course thankful for all the blessings in my life, but as I was looking through all of our Thanksgiving pictures I realized some silly subcategories of things to be thankful for. They are as follows:

I am thankful for . . .

Will taking over carving duties.

having a glass of wine with my 95 year old grandmother.

sleepovers with Hank.

nieces and nephews who keep me laughing.

a mother in law who encourages this at her house.

a sister in law who doesn't forget a thing!!!!

curls.

a brother in law who will drive close to 20 hours to make my sister and many others very happy.

and sisters who love mine like their own.

I am truly blessed.

Hollywood Kiss

Robb is a kisser. He kisses family, he kisses friends, he kisses toys . . . he does not hold back. I can only imagine what people think when I'm not around and he comes at them with mouth open for a big, wet one. I realize that Robb is getting too old for the open mouth "aah-wah" kiss. But I just love the Hollywood kiss. And I am not going to teach him the real one; I know he will learn it soon enough.

Out Takes

I take a lot of pictures of my boys. I may be a tad on the bias side, but I think they are the cutest kids in the world. Well, they are really cute until one is trying to get a Christmas card picture of them sitting next to each other. OK so they are still cute when they are not sitting still for the camera but it is a little on the frustrating side. Here are a couple of out takes from our photo shoot yesterday.

PS-I actually did get a picture. The very last one I took before I gave up:)

Indian Summer

We have been enjoying the unseasonable warm weather in Memphis by being outside as much as possible. We have had numerous trips to the zoo, the Big Backyard, playground, and just being in our own backyard. In fact we have been having so much fun that I have not been taking pictures for practically all of November. Here are a few of a fun trip the Big Backyard with my boys.

Everyday Heros

The neighborhood firemen came to Trey's class at school. They told the children about 911, stop/drop/roll, and they put on all their gear so the kids could see what firemen looked like when they are working. Then everyone got a chance to walk through the fire truck and talk to the chief.

Trey and two friends listening very intently to the fireman. Looks serious, doesn't it . . . they were talking about the fire museum:)

Halloween

Our Spiderman and our spider looked adorable . . . they didn't feel so good. We walked around for a bit but headed in early. They both have coughs and runny noses. We went to the doctor yesterday and Trey has an ear infection and a touch of bronchitis, and we will probably go back again tomorrow and get Robb checked.

Fall Photos

We met some of our friends at the pumpkin patch for a photo shoot. Aren't these some of the cutest kids you have ever seen?

It's Fall Y'all

I am a sucker for the change of seasons. All the exciting experiences that only come around during certain times of the year are always so fun to get out and try. These pictures are from a new experience for us this year and one we have enjoyed over the last few years.

The new one is the corn maze at the Agricenter. While the maze was fun, Trey and Robb had their eyes on the jumping pillow, a probably 50 ft. long, yellow bubble coming from the ground (sort of like a bouncy house). Trey loved it from the first bounce. The man taking tickets said Robb might be too young. Will thought he was definitely not too young . . . I was a little skeptical. Of course our little monkey had no trouble getting in the direct middle of the bubble, smiling the whole way. He stood in the middle and pseudo-jumped, he was bounced by the older kids running by, he rolled around as Trey encouraged him, and he laughed and laughed and laughed. Needless to say both boys were thrilled.

The next two pictures are from our favorite pumpkin patch at Second Baptist Church. We frequent their playground year round, and when they start setting up their pumpkin patch we head that way. They are always so nice to the boys and help us gather our pumpkins.

Looking forward to our other fall adventures . . .

Chicago

Fall Break in Chicago!!!!

It was great to be able to spend time with the Turner family as well as get out and about in Chicago. The boys and I drove to Chicago with my parents. There is no question that it is a long drive...but not horrible. On the way there we were all super excited to get to see Hank, Happy, and Craig and on the way home we were super excited to get home to Will...so when you are exciting coming and going the drive doesn't seem so bad.

We had wonderful weather while we were there. Happy's house is in a cute neighborhood that is very convenient. We were able to walk to her playground, cute coffee shops, and Trey's favorite-the El train. Our trip was a great mix of everyday things that Happy does to touristy things some of which they hadn't tried yet. The Museum of Science and Industry was a highlight. The boys climbed on real tractors, used pulleys to move blocks, and Trey belted out Jesus Loves Me and Hotty Toddy while pretending to be a Jim Henson puppeteer. Navy Pier was a high point of the trip. The boys, moms, and Poppy enjoyed the ferris wheel and the carousel. There is a great Children's Museum. In the water room, the boys got dressed in brightly colored raincoats and splashed through the water activities. We also got the visit the zoo. Trey, Poppy, and I went to the John Hancock building. It was Trey's first taxi ride and first time to an extremely tall building. All through the city Trey was singing Mr. Joe (his and Robb's music class teacher) songs. If all these things make is sound like we were busy, we also fit in a ukulele class, playgrounds, a farmers market, and lots of fun restaurants!!!!!!!!

We cannot wait to go back for another visit, and of course we are looking forward to Thanksgiving when the Turners will be in Memphis.

Mom, Momma, Mommy

Recently a friend said Robb got a bad rap at the beginning because of his behavior in the car...he cried in the car for the first 6-12 months of his life...pretty much every time we got in the car. It was stressful for me while I was driving, and I always felt for Trey who could not get a word in over the screaming. He is much, much better now. In fact he just finished a road trip to Chicago and back happily. I am so proud of my little guy for learning to ride even when he would rather not be. I took this video a couple of months ago when he was first realized being in the car wasn't so bad because he can babble, sing, laugh with/at Trey and call out to me.

This video is music to my ears.

Schully

I have been bad about taking pictures recently. Our weekends have been full of football. With some off weekend coming up I will certainly have more to share.

football at Ole Miss=fun, fun, fun

I know I have blogged before about how it makes me feel seeing my older nieces and nephews with my children. This is a perfect example; don't the last two pictures just melt your heart. Ashleigh's baby (aka Schully) sharing with Trey his love of football. What a great kid!!!!

NOLA

Okay...

so the picture is a little hazy (as are a lot of the memories of the trip) and two of the group missed the shot since they stayed for the end of game. But, what a trip!!!! New Orleans is such a great spot for a getaway. We had the best food, the best drinks, and the best time together. Ole Miss plays Tulane every other year in New Orleans, so hopefully we will be back before too long.

Trey and Mommy Days

I am so blessed to stay at home with my two, wonderful children. We have so much fun spending time with each other and of course spending time with Will when he is home.

It is so nice; though, to get to spend some individual time with each of them. Since Trey's preschool did not start until after Labor Day, I was able to get a few days with just him (Robb's Mother's Day Out started when other schools started).

We called them Trey and Mommy Days, and that is exactly what they were. No errands, just fun times with each other. We were all around the city from Mud Island all the way to Chuck E. Cheese. What fun memories we made!!!!

Mud Island

The Drum Store

Wiles Smith Drug Store

...but of course we were always in a hurry to go pick up Woo Woo from MDO.