Happy Halloween

Here is a picture to get you through the weekend. There will be lots more to come next week. Happy Halloween all!

1, 2, 3

1. January 21, 2006

2. March 23, 2007

3. And coming in June 2009

Because Everyone Gets a Turn

I just love to see these boys play together.


Eli did get more of a turn later on, but Walker didn't have any pants on at the time (potty training and all), so I thought better of it and didn't pull the video camera back out.

Toddler Phrase of the Morning

Walker decided he was ready to go somewhere early this morning.

We are planning on going to the park, but it needs to warm up a bit.

He brought me my shoes and told me we need to "get ready to go."

I told him it was still too cool outside and we needed to wait for it to warm up.

Walker's Response : "The sun is shiny and it is warm outside. It's ridiculous. It is warm outside."

"It's ridiculous," is his new phrase. I'm not saying who, but someone in this house does use the word ridiculous and it isn't me, and it isn't the one who is limited to two-syllable words.

Nothing escapes Walker. What cracks me up the most is that he uses the phrase in the right situations. A little reminder to be very careful what we say around our little tape recorder.

Choo Choo, Off to the Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday we made our trip to the pumpkin patch, by way of a train ride. The local train museum sets up a pumpkin patch about half way down their track so you get to ride a real train to the pumpkin patch. Of course, this is a huge hit for our boys.

Grammy and Grin took us and Uncle Matt, Aunt Ally, Hannah and Leah were able to come too! Last year Matt and Allyson tried to come, but something about the girls only being a few weeks old made it not work out. It was great to have all the cousins out there together this year.



On the Train




The tractor ride at the pumpkin patch


Picking Pumpkins








After the train ride we all went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, and that even went well! We were so pleased with all the kids attitudes after a busy morning and afternoon.

Word of the Day

Eli woke up from his nap so happy today. I asked him if he was happy, and he just repeated "appy" over and over again all afternoon. He even went and got My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, so he could read about being happy. It was so precious I grabbed the camera and got some video to share it everyone else.


It is so heart warming to hear him actually saying words. Now granted, Walker was still asleep so he had the opportunity to use words more than usual. :)

Dining Al Fresco

Fall has arrived. We are still pretty warm here during the days, but a bit cooler in the evenings.

What better way is there to enjoy the mild temperatures than taking your meals on the patio? I figure there are not so many evenings left that will be warm enough for the boys to enjoy, so I served them dinner outside.

Of course the meal was ended with fabulous rainbow popsicles.




The boys love to be outside and it is a special treat not to have to come in for dinner. It also is pretty nice for mommy...Outside clean up is great, where's the hose?

Learning to Catch

What I have learned about trying to teach a kid to catch, is that the teacher has to have pretty good aim. This is not good news for my kids, but nonetheless Walker is getting pretty good at catching.

He gets so excited when he makes a catch. After the first day of making lots of catches he had to sleep with his football. It is so fun to be a little boy!

There is so bonus video of the boys reading a book after the catch. Walker is reciting the words to another book about dump trucks and the like, but it does go with the picture on the page.

Hannah and Leah Turn 1

Last week our precious nieces turned 1. That seems almost impossible, as it feels like yesterday we were just meeting them in the hospital.

It so much fun to seem them grow. We joke almost every time we are all together about how the age gap between all the cousins is shrinking. The boys love to go and visit "hannahleah" as Walker usually says, although now in person he does know who is who. When we say Hannah to Eli he will respond with something that has an "L" sound, so we are pretty sure he is saying Leah.

We are so happy to have cousins so close in age and proximity for the boys to grow up with.

The girls were a little less than helpful with the present unwrapping.




Eli would like to know where his presents are.


Allyson made adorable smash cakes for them, but they just wouldn't do the smashing.


I made little tutus for the girls (thanks to my friend Lara who taught me how). I just had to try them on the girls. Eli had been my model at home, and it just doesn't have the same effect on a little boy. So after they were in their night gowns, we tied them on, and I think they looked pretty precious.

Because Matching PJs are Precious

And coordinating emergency response vehicles to go along.


And because I don't think Walker will fit in these footie pjs for much longer.

Good Weather, Good Friends and a Great Time

Last week we had a wonderful trip down to the beach with our friends Ben and Sara and their little boy Isaac.

Ben's mom has a condo in Panama City Beach and was generous enough to let us all go and stay for free. It is in the new Pier Park area, and it is very nice with lots of shopping and restaurants nearby.

The guys knew they would still have to work, but figured at least the scenery would be nicer.


It was a great relaxed beach schedule.

We would have breakfast and let all the kids wake up and play.

Then Sara and I would go down to the beach with the boys (my two and her 9 month old).

The boys had a blast digging in the sand and playing in the water (well at least the water up to their ankles). The daddies would join us close to lunch on the beach for a little play time.






Then everyone would head inside for baths, lunch and naps.


We all would enjoy an early dinner and a relaxing evening, where even if the guys were working, at least we were able to hang out together.

We were able to see our friends Allan and Anna and play with their little boy Jimmy. For the rest of the trip Walker talked about going to Jimmy's house to play.

We had an amazing view over the balcony. Some people might think the cranes working on the pier were not a great addition to the view, but for us it was quite a treat to get to watch these 'big machines' work while we were there.