Halloween

Halloween Morning

Sliding down a huge inflatible slide!

Waiting to ride the train around the property

The Fam

We had a great day on Halloween. We started off the day with the kids getting their pumpkins and goodies, and then we went to Grace's weekly dance class. After naps, we got everyone dressed up for the church Fall Festival. Grace was a geisha (or Princess Jasmine as she said) and Brady was a clown. The costumes were mine when I was little. Thanks, Mama! They had a lot of fun, and there was no way we could do all the games the church had set up for preschoolers. To give you an idea of how huge our church is, there were over 50 of those bounce houses, and 3 separate areas of games for preschool, elementary, and older kids. They even have the fair booths where you can get cotton candy, funnel cakes, lemonade, etc. Thank goodness the Palmers came to help me, because Josh was busy working at the petting zoo. A llama threw up on our friend Carrie and a lady who was trying to feed it. Gross! But overall it was a great day!

School Days

Here is Grace last week before school. She is definitely not a baby anymore and it is sad for Mommy and Daddy. She absolutely loves school and has a great teacher. She is 3 1/2 and can already write her name, write all her letters, tell you what letter a word starts with if you say the word, can skip count and add simple problems. She goes on Tues/Thurs. We are learning Bible verses at home (she is on her 4th one), and knows about 10,000 songs! Her favorites right now are Disney movie theme songs (to Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, etc.).

Oh, sorry, this blog wasn't meant to be a brag book, so I'll move on. Mommies have to do that from time to time.

We rush home after taking Grace to school so Brady can still get his morning nap. But when he wakes up, watch out. We get to play with all of Grace's things that she NEVER wants Brady to touch. Hehehe :) Daddy would die if he saw his son playing with a pink boa, but we have fun.

When the fun is over, "Mommy the slave driver" comes out. Here is Brady mopping my floors. And look how happily he is working! I can never start too early in getting my kids to do all my chores! Ha! I only wish someone would want to help me clean up! At least the dog eats all the crumbs off the floor.

(Okay, I do have have brag about Brady too. He is a great sleeper and says a few words like mama, dada, hi, bye, uh-oh, juice, etc. He signs a few things too. And we are just praising God that as he gets older the constant crying is going away. Mommy still has to be close, but I think we are making progress.)

Pumpkin Patch #2

Grace was invited to a birthday party at another pumpkin patch, so we left the little guy behind and went. We went on a hayride, picked pumpkins, decorated the pumpkins, ate hotdogs and cake, and did different bounce houses. It was a great time, but HOT! Still in the 90's in October!
Here's how Grace felt after the festivities were over...

Brady's Birthday Party

Brady had a great first birthday party! He got this awesome Radio Flyer Bike that he loves along with lots of cars, balls, and a new bag/backpack. We had a lot of our family in for the party, which was an animal/zoo theme. We cooked out hamburgers and all the fixings and had cake and ice cream. Happy Birthday to Brady!

Grace and her Papaw

Brady and Granna

The lion cake Mommy made for the party. Yummy homemade icing that is basically Crisco and powdered sugar! But you can't beat it!

Brady absolutely loved his cake. We also gave him a scoop of icecream on his tray that he just picked up and took bites out of, like an apple. We thought all was well and good until the next day at church. We hadn't been in class for 20 minutes when they paged us to come to the nursery. I went to his class and they said he was having extremely weird colored diapers and frequent. Guess the yellow and black icing didn't sit too well with him! That was funny and the teachers laughed about it!

He got this Thomas push train that is also a flashlight! He loves pushing things and hearing the sounds. Thanks Mommu and Grandad.

Here's Brady's new bag we can carry around. Sadly, we don't need the baby bag anymore! He's too big to need all that stuff!

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to a Pumpkin Patch the morning of Brady's party with my parents. It was rainy, but we still had a good time. The kids fed the animals, we went on a hayride, and took a million pictures. My dad and Josh ate about 4 hotdogs each! It was a great time, and the kids loved the animals. Brady wanted to run away from us and do his own thing. It was his first time to wear shoes, poor guy, so he was having a rough time walking.

Happy Birthday to Brady!

Sunday was Brady's 1 year birthday. We didn't do a lot because it was "church day", but he wore a pin to church, ate a cupcake, and opened a small present. He didn't seem to know any different. I think he's going to be a model when he grows up, and even today at the mall two ladies said, "He's going to be a heartbreaker!" I think he's pretty cute! We are so blessed to have him in our family and I am so thankful God answered my prayers for another child. Although it was a rough first year, I'm betting I will quickly forget his crankiness and see his beautiful, happy personality.

First Day of Preschool

Doesn't Grace look excited for school?! Who knows what the serious face is all about, but she absolutely loves school. She is very social and makes lots of friends and really loves to learn. She goes to preschool at our church and goes to chapel and music time. Her teacher is awesome and is already teaching the kids adding, skip counting, and lots of science. Yeah, Ms. Terry!