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!

Missouri Weekend

We just got home and unpacked from a great weekend in Missouri with Michael's family, and we had such a great time! Granted, the boys have been making this 7 or 8 hour trip with us since they were six weeks old, but sometimes the car ride there isn't a walk in the park with them. Not so, this time!!! They were AWESOME! I couldn't stop bragging on how great they did. Not one fuss out of either of them. And that just kicked our weekend off to a great start.

We went to celebrate Michael's birthday this week, but honestly, with such cute kiddos around all the attention was on them. Ben and Drew love their little cousin so much, and had such a great time playing with her and chasing her around. Brittany and I grew up with very close relationships with our cousins, and I've always wanted that for my boys. I'm so glad they have that with Dresie. We put them in the wagon, and walked to the elementary school (one of the really neat things about living in a small town) to pick her up on Friday and the look on her face said it all. That night we headed to Chuck E Cheese for dinner to treat the little ones, and I'm pretty sure the grown-ups had just as much fun as they did.

Then on Saturday, Uncle Dan and Aunt Chelle took us out to some friends' house to feed the baby sheep and see the horses, and the boys had even more fun. They loved feeding the babies the bottle, and Dresden was a natural at it since she gets to do it all the time. And then Saturday night we headed into Columbia to celebrate Michael's birthday. Restaurants can be tricky sometimes with these two little guys. But they were on their best behavior and we even ordered them each some ice cream to reward them.

It was a whirlwind weekend, and we sure did have lots of fun. There were so many good pictures, it was hard to narrow it down. Here are just a few.

Now I'm off to tackle the mounds of laundry that come with traveling.......not much fun, but definitely worth it!Dresie teaching the boys how to play basketball

Playing Bop-It with Aunt Chelle and Dresie

Ben helping Daddy with his score (read: Michael cheating) at Skee Ball

Daddy and Drew racing

Uncle Michael teaching Dresie about how to sink a putt

Aunt Chelle and Drew with the golf balls

Dresden and Ben with the baby sheep

PawPaw, Dresie and Ben walking to see the horses

My boys giving the baby his milk

I realized not too long ago that I had not really taken very many pictures of Drew and Ben brushing their teeth. This is one of their favorite things to do in the mornings ...by themselves, that is. So, it usually starts out as a happy event (and let me tell you, it can be an event lasting up to 10 or 15 minutes with the two of them), but can often end up getting pretty ugly since both of my boys like to do everything by their "see-elves". But here are a few action shots, pre-meltdown over who gets to hold the toothbrush.

We haven't been up to too much lately. Just working our way through our weekly routine is busy-ness enough. I think they are both beginning to cut their two-year molars, based only on the amount of drool, waking up at night and gnawing going on. I think it's worse this time than when they were babies. But we're doing what we can to help them through it.

In other news, we went to Ben's check-up at Vandy for his thyroid condition. I tell ya, there's no place like Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to make you thankful for what you've got. The Pediatric Endocrinology is on the same floor as the Pediatric Cancer Center and a number of other serious illnesses. So, we are always in the waiting room with babies and children who have Down's Syndrome, physical and mental handicaps, and cancer patients. It is always such a reality check for Michael and I when we are there to look at what some parent's go through. I honestly can't imagine. But I always find myself in some serious prayer on those days. As the boys get older and older, I love the idea of exposing them to children who have different problems than they have, and teaching them how to be loving and compassionate. Anyways, we went through the whole checkup, and I really thought that Ben was beginning to outgrow his dosage of medicine. But, the bloodwork all came back perfect. So, after his next visit in 4 months, the Drs. think that we can do a trial of coming off the medicine completely. We've always had hope that he would outgrow this, and it wouldn't be a lifelong thing to treat. But either way, we're so thankful to our great doctors who have taken such great care of all four of us!

That's all for now! Here are a few silly shots I've taken here and there lately. Hope you all have a happy weekend...we sure plan to!!!

It's Football Time in Tennessee

Hello, one and all! We've been a little out of the loop lately since Michael is now back from China. We have just been having such great time lovin' on him and laughing and playing, and the boys have been more attached to their daddy than ever. So, we just couldn't take time away from that to sit at a computer and blog. While he was away, the boys and I made the trip down to Montgomery to visit Mimi and Pop, and had a great time. We came back a little spoiled, as we always do. My parent's both have very flexible jobs, so one or both of them was always around to help me wtih our very busy boys.

They seem to be talking nonstop these days. A few favorite phrases around our house are "my turn", "I ho-bit" (I hold it), "I ha-bit" (I have it), "I do it I see-elf" (I do it myself), and plenty more. I'm constantly amazed at the things they'll say back to me while we're talking that I didn't consciously teach them. They've mostly got the colors and counting down, so we've been working on letters lately. But honestly, that bores them, so I usually do it while they are buckled down in their carseats as a captive audience.

Summer is gone (mostly) and I must say that I am never sad to see it go. Fall has always been my very favorite season, and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Along with those always comes football season, which was kicked off at our house bright and early this past Saturday morning. We did our normal Saturday morning tradition of donuts and then before I could even blink twice Michael already had them in their gameday shirts and singing Rocky Top at the top of all three lungs. Good times!

Here are a few pictures of the boys in all their sports' teams glory to tide you over till I have more time to post. Love to you all!

First REAL Haircut

Up until now, when the boys' hair got a little too long, I'd just trim it up myself. Now, if you've actually seen my children's hair up-close, then you know that mommy is no hair dresser. I just snip off enough to make it look not as bad as it did. But lately it's gotten a little too shaggy, and we decided that it was high time for someone who knows what they're doing to step in. So, we loaded up and headed to get a haircut this Saturday morning.

Here is how we entertained them until it was our turn: with shampoo packets. Those were apparently the coolest, because they worked. Who knew?

This is Ben sitting in the chair by himself. You can tell he did not like it, or the cool cape at all.
So, mommy stepped in, put on a cool cape too, and we were able to proceed...but still a little apprehensively.
Look at me, Daddy! This is Drew's turn (or "ahh sern" as he says). Michael said "Buddy, show me your smile". This is the face he got.
A little unsure about the lady with the scissors.He ducked down into his cool cape laughing when she tickled the back of his neck with her buzzer.And just what do you get if you act like a big boy, and do a good job while getting your hair cut?

Suckers! No, we never let them have suckers. So this was a huge treat. But bribery for some good behavior in public is not beneath us.

My Big Helpers

These are the AFTER pictures:
The BEFORE pictures (that you don't see) are of a bed that is made up (all 6 pillows in place), folded laundry just about to be put up, no trucks (or 'kuks' according to Ben), and no children on it. I left that scene to get more laundry to fold for just a second - literally - and above is what I came back to. He was having such a great time driving the 'kuk' over the big mountains that I had to grab the camera. ...and then get to work RE-folding the clean clothes. His partner in crime was still taking a nap when all of this happened.

If I am doing laundry while they are awake, this is where they love to be:
They think it's so funny to throw the clothes into the washing machine. Sure, it takes a little longer, but they are entertained and that makes the day go a little more smoothly.
This is just a random shot I got of them while I was trying to wash all of the sunscreen off of them after we came home from the pool.
And this is the face Drew makes when you tell him to "show me your smile." It's one of the funniest faces I've ever seen, and he loves to show off lately. Anything from wrestling down on the floor with Daddy to dancing in circles as fast as he can, he'll do if you pay him attention.

Ben, on the other hand, has become quite the little quiet thinker. He'll be happy to do all his puzzles for 15 minutes all by himself. He's fascinated by 'bee metheth' (big messes) lately. As in when he sees leaves on the driveway or paper on the counter, he'll say 'bee meth, mommy.' So the other day we came downstairs from naptime to get our afternoon snack. I pulled out his chair only to find a few crumbs that I had missed from lunchtime, and he says 'bee meth, mommy.' I --trying to make a point with him-- said "that's right, Ben. That is a big mess. Who made that mess?" and he looks up at me without any hesitation and says 'God did.' I guess all that drilling about "who made the sun?, who made the trees?, who made your nose, etc..." has finally sunk in....sort of.

What Do You Get When You Add 1 Really Hot Day, 2 Boys, a Water Hose and a Puppy?

A REALLY GREAT TIME!!!