Trunk Or Treat

If two posts last week impressed you, then hold onto your hats, blog readers: two more posts in the same night!!! What can I say, it was a busy weekend, and we had lots of pictures to share. So, keep scrolling down, there's another post after this one.

Tonight was our annual Trunk or Treat at church. It is always so much fun, and so good to see so many friends. This year the boys were Chinese Emperors. When they were born we were given these authentic costumes by one of Michael's business friends, who lives in China. We loved them because they were such a beautiful gift, but never thought the sizes would work out for them to ever wear the costumes at Halloween. So, they've sat in the top of the boys' closet for two years. But one night not long ago, we remembered them, tried them on, and were pumped that they fit. So, not only did the boys get to wear some really cool original costumes. But they also had some pretty cool meaning behind them too.

Just to show you what a difference a year makes, here is last year's picture of the boys at Trunk or Treat. They were barely walking then, and had never had candy before. This year, they knew exactly what to do! Drew was so funny walking from car to car holding out his bucket for more.One of the best parts about this fun day is seeing every one's costumes. Here are our friends the Normans. And here are our babysitters from our beach trip Miss Wynn and Miss MelissaThe four of us:Drew hamming it up for meBen thinking very seriously about which piece of candy to eat next...and let me tell you, he ate more than his fair share. Most of that --I'm sorry to say-- was my fault because I kept bribing him with candy to keep his hat on and look at the camera for pictures. I know, I'm terrible. But last year I hardly got any pictures at all, and I'm pretty sure that one day of a sugar rush won't kill them.Here are the boys with most of their best buddies. Shown are Paisley and Brax in front with Xander, Jay, Drew and Ben in back. We sure did miss the rest of our gang: Avery, Eli, Parker and Fenley.And just for old times' sake, I included this picture from last year of most of the same buddies: Eli, Brax, Jay and the twins. (On a side note, we REALLY miss the Millers...especially this time of year, when Sallie always throws the BEST Halloween parties! We're thinking of yall!) I'll tell you the truth: afternoons like this are lots of fun. But looking back at the day and remembering that our boys are forming bonds with so many great friends is really what makes things like this special. We really love our friends, and we are so blessed to be raising our boys with so many people who love them, both near and far.

Happy Halloween, all!!!

Fun Fall Weekend

Like all other families that we know, we ALWAYS look forward to the weekends because we have such a great time playing with Daddy. And usually that fun is had by playing outside. But because we've had a week straight of hard rain -- and don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining -- our backyard was nothing but mud puddles.

That left me with three boys and a dog who desperately needed some playtime. So, what's a resourceful mommy to do? She brings the outside in! I moved the cars out and pulled the slide that Mimi and Pop gave the boys for their birthday, the wagon, the tunnel, some balls, some cars, a tricycle, and the bubble machine into the garage for a makeshift playground. Let me tell you, it was a HIT! The boys threw the balls for Reagan, played with all the toys, and even got to help Daddy use his tools for some garage projects he's been wanting to get done. They played so hard that they both took naps for over 3 hours! Here are a few pictures of the indoor fun.



After the boys woke up, the sun was out and it was a perfectly crisp fall afternoon. So we headed into downtown Franklin for the annual Pumpkin Festival. Look at the size of that pumpkin...and yes, it's real!

Here the boys and Daddy had to stop for some home-made Kettle Korn, one of Michael's favorites.
Michael had been smoking some ribs all day long, and after a fun day of playing the boys had worked up an appetite. Ben and Drew demonstrate the right way to eat fall-off-the-bone ribs:

And after all of that plus full bellies, what could be better than ending the day cuddling with BeBe while watching Dora the Explorer?! Even Reagan thought it was the perfect way to wind down.....much to Britt's dismay. ;

Gone Fishin'

I had just gone downstairs to finish cleaning up the breakfast mess after I had gotten the boys ready for the day, when I hear Drew say "shish, Beh! shish!" (fish, Ben! fish!). I then hear four feet running as hard as they can to the playroom, where I guess they got their new fishing poles that Aunt Chelle, Uncle Dan and Dressie gave them.

It was too quiet, so I headed upstairs, and this is what I saw as I was coming up: Two little feet and two fishing rods hanging over the bannister at the top of the stairs. Who taught them to do that?! It was so funny to me that I ran back downstairs to grab the camera. I just knew that my Daddy and their Uncle Dan would be so proud to see the little fishermen already in action....since they have both been itching to take the boys fishing for some time now.


P.S. Who's impressed with me for having two posts in the same week?! ;)

Birthday Weekend

Well, I really wish that I had lots of cute birthday pictures to post for you all. I wish that we 'd had the fun birthday party that we'd had planned for the boys. I wish I could report that the 2nd birthday party with our friends came off without a hitch. But since I can't say any of those things actually came to pass, I'll tell you what did happen.

Wednesday afternoon Drew woke up from his nap with a scalding hot fever. At that point he wouldn't let me take his temp, but it was pretty high. So we began the motrin/tylenol cocktail rotation, the cool washcloths, ice chips, juice, water, and every other thing I could think of to help my little man feel better. Even a trip to Dr. Leeper's office to make sure it wasn't ears (he acted GREAT, by the way, while we were there. Like he wasn't sick at all! Why do they do that?) All to no avail through the night, and all through the next day. He was pitiful. He would only lay on me in the rocking chair. All. Day. Long. And a looong day it was. So, now on top of being exhausted, I'm now getting very very worried about my sick little boy.


So, at a steady temp of 104.1 for over 2 hours, the on-call nurse said we needed to head to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. I'm trying to keep my crying baby calm, navigate through rush hour traffic, thinking of all the serious things that could be wrong. Fears of MRSA, flu or strep in my head. It was so bad. He screamed even louder and even longer while they ran all the tests, and my heart just broke for him.


All that to say, it was just a really bad virus that is just now coming to an end (thank goodness!). So, we had to cancel the birthday party, and had a small family party here at our house Friday night instead. Honestly, it was PERFECT! It was just what the boys needed, and they enjoyed being with all the grandparents, aunts and uncle, and their cousin more than I can even describe. We all had a great time just being all together. The only bad part was that it made us all wish we all lived closer. I love that our families get along so well, and can all enjoy each others' company. It is really such a blessing to have such a loving family to raise our boys in.


So, the boys really did have a great birthday, despite not feeling quite as good as usual. Hopefully we can meet up with our good buddies in the park one day this week to play and celebrate. We didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few that we snapped.

The only three things that made Drew feel any better (after the fever started coming down) were his paci, coloring and birthday cake. Here he is showing me the picture we made. But look at his little eyes.

Aunt Chelle showing the boys their cake.

Everybody singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles. We've been working really hard at showing two fingers when someone asks how old they are.
Once we uncovered the cake Ben, Drew and Dresden all had to have theirs right then. So here they are, eating their dessert first.

Dressie helping Drew down the slide. They just adore her and kept running around saying "Come on, Dres! Swide (slide), Dres!".

They're getting so big, and growing so much every day. It's hard to believe two years have already flown by. They are most definitely the best things that have ever happened to Michael and I, and we feel so blessed that God chose us to be their Mommy and Daddy.

My New Adventure

After Darci's last post about finishing Brody's nursery, I had several of you sweet friends email me, wanting to see more of the painted canvases that I've done, and basically just encouraging me. And let me tell you, that was not only surprising, but also a huge blessing to me since I've been a little shy (I know, not typical of me at all) about telling anyone about this. And that's really silly since it's pretty hard to have a "little business" if no one knows anything about it.


But after the support I got from some good friends (you know who you are!) I figured that maybe now might be a good time to post a few pictures of some of the canvases I've done so far in the hopes that someone else will want me to help put the finishing touches on their little pumpkins' room. I'm not sure if you can see it, but on the sides of the canvases, each one has a different shape around it. The "one" has the deep red circles, "two" has cream triangels, "three" has light blue squares and "four" has dark brown stars.

This is the one that started it all. It hangs in Ben and Drew's nursery, and I started toying with the idea of making these to sell when my amazing husband gushed about how good it was and encouraged me to give it a shot.

This is just a sample I made to hang in one of the consignment stores here in Spring Hill.

This one is another sample, and these are Ben's feet. If you order this one either for yourself, or for a gift, it will come with extra paint for you to have footprints of the special little one.

And another sample, inspired by my good friend Carrie's nursery for her little boy Colt. The flash did funny things to the color of the background, but it's really a brick red, with dark brown lettering.

I've done a few others for some friends that I don't have pictures of, but these are some general ideas.

I'm working on some dump trucks, airplanes and cars for the boys' playroom right now. All this to say, I'd love to do something for you too! Just email me the color scheme of the room, the theme you have, and any other ideas you have about what you want. I'll be more than happy to add a personalized and special touch to the place that your little one calls home. You can get me at piddlespaints@aol.com. Happy Hobbying, everyone!

Fall is Fun!

Sorry for the lapse in posts, to all of my faithful blog buddies. We haven't really been any more busy than usual, it's just that when the weather is THIS great, it's hard to come inside or use the boys' naptime for things like the computer.

So, on to what we've been up to. Last weekend was the annual Country Ham Festival here in Spring Hill. We took the boys, and all four of us had a great time. I love going to things like this! There were pony rides for the kiddos, which ours loved and rode on like big boys, a choo choo train ride that they thought was the coolest, face painting (that we didn't even attempt since to get them to sit still for any amount of time is unlikely), a petting zoo, and more country ham than anyone could ever want or wish for.

Here are a few pictures of the day

Drew getting on the train. The conductor is Chris, the guy who owns and runs Sopranoz out here. We've gotten to know him from eating at his place occasionally.

The boys at the petting zoo.

Ben enjoying his first apple fritter on bale of hay.

I haven't taken too many pictures lately...not sure why I've been slacking...but I will try to do better. Thats all for now. Thanks for checkin in on us!