The happenings....

How can you tell fall is in the air? Not by the crisp mornings, the bright colored leaves, or the mums on the front porch.... but by the busy weekends and all of the happenings that Autumn brings. Last weekend, we celebrated a birthday of a special little boy. The BANEBOW 5K was last weekend and could not have been better. The weather was cool but the atmosphere was warm and cozy for some friends that share their hurt and vision for a future with everyone who listens.

BANEBOW 2011

Same pic but with the beautiful balloons...

My walking partners during the 5K...
We did not make it all the way but we had fun. After Addie's little melt down of her "feet hurting" and regretting the decision of not wanting the double stroller, we were better.
Addie, Aubree, and Drew went for the nature 5K
stomping on acorns and picking up hiking sticks.

Drew in deep thought...

Daddy and Drew after the race.
Kyle finished in 32 minutes.

Addie getting her face painted for the 1st time ever!

Rylee the winner of the 5k for the girls division, giving Heather some love as always!

Don't be fooled by the tree... it is really a pirate ship.

After BANEBOW, we headed to Lexington for a cookout, hayride, and to celebrate...

Ninnie's birthday! Do you think she has enough help with the candles?

Getting ready for the hayride

Getting some love from Poppy...

Some lessons learned on a the hayride...

1. Preschool aged children and toddlers like hayrides that last around 30mins... not an hour.
2. You should never go anywhere with Drew without 32ozs. of milk because when it runs out in the middle of the woods he goes from this...
   

to this...

Lucky for us an app on a phone saved us from hearing Drew cry the last 15 mins of the hayride.

The boys and their mom...

Addie learning that climbing on the counter is not always a great idea...
At least she was trying to get some water and wasn't trying to get the candy.

Playing outside in the yard...

This is what Kyle has been sporting around the house...
Every time he did not wear his shirt they lost.

I have not seen Kyle this pumped about baseball in a long time. I could never stay awake to watch the games but Kyle would always wake me up from my sofa slumber with his jumping, fist pumping, way to go Cardinals! Our favorite soundbite from the post season was from Addie. Kyle was wearing his shirt and watching the game when Addie came walking into the living room. She said to Kyle, "Child! Our you watching the Cardinals again?"

Addie has been teaching Drew all about tea parties... Oh to be the little brother.

Fall Break....

A time for teachers to feel like a stay-at-home mom... to spend time with children, family, and friends... to complete some tasks and chores without a time clock ticking away... just to say it plainly... Fall Break is just GREAT!!!!

I got to garden a little bit by planting my fall mums with my hubby one day.

I got to watch our beautiful Sugar Maple begin to change into the wonderful colors of Fall...

My furry child got a long over due bath...

Did a lot of this stuff with the cutest of helpers...

Played out in the yard with Addie and Drew almost every day...
Addie wanted to make a rooster out of leaves. She saw the idea on Nick Jr.
Who says TV is bad???

Drew helping me out while I clean out the kitchen cabinets. By the way he went and got the stool by himself so that he could choose the spoon he wanted.

Did about ten laps around this beautiful spot...

With this handsome fella...

Found this pretty leaf along the way.
Can I just say again I love my iPhone!!!!

I love fall!!!!!
Here's to a great break and a wonderful nine weeks of fun in kindergarten.

Pumpkin Patch...

You know it's fall when the pumpkin patches are open for business. This year we stayed local and went to Keller's Corny Country in Tennessee City. It really is great and they do such a great job running the facilities. Addie was excited about the long tunnel slide and Drew really fell in love with the playground and truck. It was truly a great family day with Kyle and the kids.

I went to the bottom of the tunnel slide to meet Addie and who comes out...
Mr. Bear.

But Addie soon followed.

Having fun on the playground.

Daddy chilling out with Drew in the tire swing...

Drew's favorite thing of the day was playing in the truck.

Fast forward 12 years and this could be the scene beside you...

Addie making corn angels...

Kyle trying to get Drew in the corn pool...

Drew was not much on the corn.
Addie just left him.
Another child had to help him up and out of the way.
Thus I quickly came in to his rescue.

Getting lost in the corn maze...

Addie's loves to pick corn if only she would eat it!

One last slide before it is time to leave...

On the way out Addie picked out a dollar pumpkin.
I told her that we could paint the pumpkin but she did not want to wait. So when we got home she got out her markers and stickers and worked on the pumpkin for two hours straight.

This was the finished product... I think there are about $20 of stickers on our $1 pumpkin.
What do you think????

addie's first sleepover...

The day finally came... Addie had her first sleepover with her BFF Aubree.

The Sanders' and the Reynolds' got together for dinner Tuesday night and the children where playing and the adults were talking. I had kept Aubree coming over a secret from Addie because I didn't want to hear how much longer... when is she coming... and all of the other questions that come along with a four year old.
When it was almost time to leave, I told Aubree to tell Addie our little secret. Addie's face lit up when Aubree uttered the words, "I'm coming home with you." We knew the girls were excited but what happen next really shows the excitement. The grown ups were cleaning up the kitchen and getting some things together when we found out that the girls had put their shoes on and were sitting out in the car waiting for Kyle and me. Now tell me that is not excitement!!!
The night was great. The girls played for a little while and were in bed around 10:30. They only got up one time to use the bathroom. Addie was the early bird and could not understand why Aubree was not up at 6:45.
We had waffles, drew some pictures, played outside, watched The Little Mermaid, played dress- up, ate lots of goldfish and learned that Aubree is not ticklish.

Just a little easel art in our pjs...

Goodnight friends...