Happy Halloween!

Jack's Halloween started on Thursday when he had a party at school. Saturday we trick or treated with a group of friends so we had a good time. When I asked Jack a few months ago what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said a monster. His answer never changed every time I asked but it evolved a little. I asked what color monster he wanted to be and he said brown. Later, it turned into a brown friendly monster. We wondered where we would find a brown friendly monster costume so I figured I'd try my hand at making it. I took him to Wal-Mart with me and he picked out the color brown fabric he wanted. I asked if he wanted spots or stripes or something and he said spots. I took him to the felt and he picked out a green felt for spots. When I started to make the costume he helped place the spots where he wanted them and when it was all finished he was very happy with it. I came back to his school early on Thursday to watch some of the party and sat at lunch with him and he said, "Mommy, you sewed my costume really good." I was just glad he liked it.

On Saturday he got very excited about trick or treating and getting candy. We all walked together up to the first house and he got his candy and he walked back and said he was ready to go play, he didn't want any more candy. I told him he was supposed to trick or treat at a lot of houses and we should follow his friends. At the next house he was on the porch and the lady was about to put candy in his bucket and he shouted, "I DON'T WANT ANYMORE CANDY!" He watched the other kids go up and get candy and was ok with that. Finally, I tried to explain that we were going back to play and that he could trick or treat AND play and that would mean he would get to do 2 fun things. He agreed to go to the door but still said he didn't want anymore candy. I asked if he would get some for me. After he left the porch he said, "I got you some candy." Good Boy.

We had a busy weekend. We went to Popo and Moma Jo's today and Jarred and I went to the mall and Jack stayed and helped make pizza dough and sauce. While he was outside with Popo some, he got stung or bitten by something and a lot of drama ensued. He got 2 little bites on his neck and one on his finger. I think he will survive but the finger has been bandaged and elevated most of the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Here are a few pictures from Jack's school party and trick or treating. We're off again in a week to Amarillo to visit friends so we'll have a lot of pictures to post from that trip soon!

Learning how to play "hot pumpkin". Jack said he didn't want it to be hot!

Playing Mr. Potato head with his friend Benjamin.

Getting ready to trick or treat!

Excited about the green dots!

All friendly monsters have green hair.

Isn't this the friendliest brown monster you've ever seen?

I was dressed up as a South Carolina Gamecocks fan. Tennessee played South Carolina this night and I forgot to wear orange.

Our group of trick or treaters.

One of the trick or treaters that showed up at the house we were at. Can you tell who they are??

It's All About John Deere

Jack should be the next spokesperson for John Deere. He is all about John Deere. Today he told me he didn't have a motor grader and we should get one at the store. He was also disappointed after watching his John Deere tractor movie that he didn't have any old tractors either. On Friday he helped move the cows across the road and had to be all decked out in his John Deere gear. If you're wondering what to get him for Christmas, John Deere is the way to go! :)

We had a fun weekend with Aunt Lissa and Zoe. We thought just Aunt Lissa was coming but she decided to bring Zoe, too. It was good to see her again since we didn't get a lot of time with her last weekend. Today I got my first quilting lesson and Wannie pieced together a quilt that I'd cut out while I practiced. Tomorrow I guess I'll start quilting my first quilt! YAY! Here are a few pictures of the weekend.

Jack watching Poppa shave.

Hat, Shirt, Sweats, Boots- check.

Wouldn't he sell a lot of tractors?

John Deere could even sponsor his golf game.

Supervising the cow move.

Loving on baby Zoe. Tonight he told me that she was so cute and so little. I asked if he liked her and he said yes. I asked if he wanted a baby like Zoe at our house all the time and he said, "Nah." I guess we better start talking it up!

Isn't she sweet?

This morning he helped Wannie make waffles in his John Deere PJs and socks.

Talking about the days events with Poppa.

He got sidewalk chalk from Aunt Lissa and he wrote Popo on the driveway.

She's smiling at Wannie.

Finishing out the day by building some road with his new John Deere construction equipment! :)

Athens Day 4

Today was another fun day of visiting and playing. We went to Canton for lunch with Aunt Sue and then after nap time we had a nice dinner at Whataburger. Now we're getting ready for Moma Jo, Popo & Abbott to head home in the morning and Jack & I are going to stay an extra week. We had a great time with Abbott here but I bet he'll be happy to see his mommy and daddy and I bet they'll be glad to see him.

Reading this morning with Wannie.

Being silly with Aunt Sue.

Aren't they cute?

She doesn't look too sure about these boys! :)

Poppa makes a good slide!

YAY!

Flippin' with Poppa.

Silly boy.

If Jack does it, so does Abbott! What a fun (but crazy!) week! I've been trying all day to send Jack back with Popo & Moma Jo so he can spend a week with Kelly but they aren't too keen on that idea.

Athens Day 2, Dallas day 3

We spent Monday just hanging around the house and taking it easy. Tuesday we went to Dallas to visit our 96 year old aunt and also met Jarred's aunt that we haven't seen in 10 years, which obviously means she met Jack for the first time. We had a big day today and the boys were pretty worn out. We've got one more day with Popo, Moma Jo & Abbott and then Jack and I are staying an extra week.
Jack helping Popo plant a new tree.

All the boys need to give their input on the best way to plant the tree.

Abbott is supervising Jack.

This is the right way to put the stakes in the ground.

Helping Popo & Moma Jo look for the cat under the car.

He can get a better view when he stands on the wood.

Wildflowers in the pasture.

Checking out the cows with Popo.

We ended the day with a good movie, Toy Story 2.

Me, Jack & Aunt Jane Ann.

Reading a book with Poppa.

Athens Day 1

This blog post is mostly for my sister, Kelly who is probably missing her little boy tons since we kidnapped him and bought him with us to Athens. We convinced her to let him come with us and Saturday morning before we left, she agreed. He's done great and we are having a good time, but we do wish everyone was here together. Jarred, Kelly and Ryan had to stay back in Tennessee and hold down the forts there. We got in at 11 Saturday night so these are all pictures from today. We had a nice day and got to play with all the cousins minus Caroline who had volleyball duties. We did miss her!! I'm sure more fun will be had during the week!

Monkey see, monkey do. Whatever Jack wants to do so does Abbott.

Abbott helping Jack put his puzzle together.

Jack & Abbott got to meet Zoe for the first time. They were both so sweet with her. Jack tried to take her picture with his "camera phone" and Abbott kept trying to give her paci to her. It was so sweet to see them with her.

Poppa flipping Jack.

Abbott bumped his head, but it was cured with several ice cubes. He insisted on staying in the chair and playing with all the ice cubes until they all melted.

"napping"

All the cousins, except Caroline.

Popo and Zoe.

Jack & Landon outside testing Landon's "experiments".

Mike grilling burgers and hot dogs in the rain.

Everyone loves cake!

Abbott & Popo enjoying some pound cake and ice cream. More to come, stay tuned!!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we met our friends John, Amy & Bailey at the pumpkin patch to pick out our fall pumpkins. We'd never been to a pumpkin patch before, we usually would just buy them at a store or a set up on the side of the road. We planned to get 3 pumpkins but ended up with 8!! They were a lot cheaper and much better looking than the ones in the store. Jack picked out his little pumpkin and then picked one up for Abbott. Bailey found hers and then wanted to pick all the bumpy pumpkins. After we picked our pumpkins we took them to get weighed and of course had to buy some fried pies, too! We had a fun day and we're looking forward to getting Jack & Bailey together again soon.

Jack's trying to find the perfect pumpkin.

Here it is. Little and unique, just like Jack!

Trying to get these 2 to pose and smile at the same time is just about impossible.

Bailey is cutting her own pumpkin.

Here's our loot!

We were excited to find some John Deere tractors on the farm. We liked this one, it was old and they were able to sit on it and "drive".

We need to get this girl some John Deere gear!

He looks good on a tractor.

Here they are discussing the day's events.

The office. The place was called the Fruit and Berry Patch and they sell all different kinds of fruits and berries throughout the spring and summer and then pumpkins in the fall.

I just thought this was a cool box covered up with the plants.

They found little berries on the ground. Bailey said they were oranges but we're not so sure about that. Fortunately none ended up in their mouths or noses! :)

Jack insisted on the blueberry fried pie. He was so excited to eat it when we got home. My cherry fried pie was delicious and if Jarred doesn't eat his apple one soon, it will probably disappear!

Picnics and Concerts

Jack & I drove to Nashville Friday afternoon to help Kelly's school, High Hopes, celebrate it's 25th birthday. They had a fun picnic in the park complete with games and musical entertainment. They had lots of guest, including the woman who started the school. It was a fun night even though we got rained on a little bit. Saturday was a little bit of a "Murphy's Law" day for me. We all got ready and headed out to Opry Mills but first we started our day with a coffee from Ryan's coffee shop. As we were leaving, I took Jack to the bathroom. We didn't get everything angled just right and rather than a stream in the toilet, I got a stream on my pants! I tried to clean it with a wet paper towel, but that didn't really help much. It was raining and as we left, I slipped on the steps (I'm OK!) and had to sit down to catch my balance and not fall farther down the steps so now I had a wet leg and a wet bottom! We went on to Opry Mills and figured we'd stop at Old Navy first. I thought I could find a cheap pair of pants there. We entered the mall through the Apple Barn store and walked right into a display of John Deere toys. Jack was so excited and found a small combine tractor. I decided to get one for him and Abbott, figuring it would help keep them occupied while we shopped a little. I went to pay and didn't have my wallet! I had put it in my camera bag to pay for food at the picnic and forgot to put it back in my purse. Kelly had to pay for the tractors, my pants, and lunch... which took way longer than it should have since we had a lazy waiter! Nap time was pretty smooth and we packed up another picnic for Ryan's concert in the park Saturday night. His band and 3 others were playing and it was a beautiful night. After they played, the next act got up there and sang about 3 songs and it started to pour down rain!! We packed everything up quickly and headed to the car when it stopped, of course. Unfortunately by that time, everything was too wet to get back out. Hey, at least we got to hear Ryan's band! About 1 am (which is technically Sunday, but still), Kelly gets a call from Ryan that his car has been towed from the park parking lot and she needs to come get them. GEEZ! Fortunately when we woke up this morning, there was no rain and the weather was cool so we headed down to Tim and Janet's (Ryan's parents) for a visit. Jack and I came home this afternoon and just took it easy the rest of the night. We had a fun weekend and fortunately for us, we can laugh at Saturday's event and realize it all could have been a lot worse! Here are a few pictures. from our weekend.

Abbott is checking to see if his daddy can get that big burger in his mouth.

Abbott got his face painted with a star and they both won cool necklaces from the bean bag toss.

Jack got a star on his face, too.

They really enjoyed the bean bag toss.

Jack & Janet.

Kelly had a cool guitar and Jack can really rock it!

Cheering for Ryan's band.

Here they are, Art Four Sale.

Me & Abbott, eatin' chips.

Jack & Kelly, bein' silly.

3 boys in a tent.

We bought a pumpkin for the boys to decorate. Kelly started them out by putting a face on it.

Abbott & Jack then took over with the markers.

And it ended up like this. Pretty spooky.

They helped Tim clear walnuts out of his yard and threw them in the creek.

See, looks like a fun weekend!