Jenny, My Muse

Ok, my BFF is really into this blogging thing and I feel like I need to keep up. The real reason that I am updating my blog is that Scott got a new laptap and I am giving it a test run.
We have had a busy couple of weeks. We went on a true vacation last week, complete with actually paying money to stay somewhere! Shari, Mike and Lily, Scott's parents and my little family went to Wears Valley, TN, which is right outside of Pigeon Forge. We rented a beautiful cabin a million miles up in the air (seriously! I was afraid to leave the house at night and wasn't too fond of leaving during the day either. It was SCARY!) Aside from the fact that I think I must be somewhat afraid of heights, the views were magnificent! I will post some pics later. The second night that we were there alot of the mountains got snow and we could see the snow covered mountains from the comfort of the living room. We had a great time! Nana took the boys to the Ripley's aquarium in Gatlinburg and they had a blast! We were on this little vacation for Halloween so we let the boys trick or treat around the house. They went door to door (bedroom to bedroom) and Aunt Shari and I tried to come up with some creative ways to scare them when they came knocking on our doors. I even managed to lay down on top of the washer and dryer- you don't want to know!!
Since the mountain trip I have focused my attention on the upcoming (not yet) Christmas holiday. My friend Cherie asked if I was skipping Thanksgiving. Are you kidding? Have you seen me? No way I am skipping turkey day but I can include the Christmas decor in my Thanksgiving feast, can't I?
I put my indoor tree up today but the darn lights would not work and I got frustrated so the decorating will have to wait until another day. Maybe tomorrow after I buy more lights?
Anyway, life is great here. I love my boys (even the adult one) and could not ask for more. Except maybe that the light fairies could fix my Christmas tree lights while I am in bed tonight!

My little artist

Grayson started drawing these little people and I think they are the cutest things EVER! I had to share!

Coloring with Poppa

The boys love to color. Grayson always asks if he can do "homework" which means coloring. (How long do we think he will enjoy the homework thing?)

One evening, after "pizza night", the boys wanted their Poppa to join them in some coloring. What fun!

A Day at the Zoo

Baby Lily invited us to join her for her 1st trip to the zoo this past Sunday. The weather was wonderful and the boys loved it! Lily (who is smitten with her cousin, Grayson) didn't give a hoot about the animals but stared at Gray anytime he was vaguely close to her. Afterward, Scott and I took the boys out to lunch. We ate at this new (ish) little sub place near the new Publix downtown. the place is Jimmie Johns Gourmet Subs and it was really good. The guys that worked there were terribly nice and we will definitely be heading back! Try it out if you are in the area!

I love these guys!

Look at these faces. Enough said!

Cake for breakfast?!

Ok, so I know that to look at me you would never imagine but I DO know that cake for breakfast is not really a good way to start the day. Nevertheless, we had some leftover cake one morning and my boys asked for it for "breskiss" as Grayson calls it. They love cake and the love "hamming it up" for the camera (somedays).

"For the Birds"

One afternoon I found a baby cardinal in my yard. Of course, my dog was trying to eat it but, whatever.

Anyhoo, I took some pics and the Papa Cardinal kept a close eye on me. Once he even flew out of the tree and toward me. I was kinda scared!

Here are a couple of pics of the baby who is so ugly that he is cute and the protective Papa.

"Country" Life

Ok, so I have had a ton of people tell me they love where we live because we have the joy of wide open spaces and yet we are close enough to everything to make it convenient.

From time to time we have "visitors" that have consisted of lots of deer, wild turkeys, a beaver and coyotes. Never before have we been visited by ducks but a couple of weeks ago, that changed.

Piper, our puppy, was barking up a storm so I stepped outside to check it out. There were 4 ducks just hanging out in our yard and it was almost as though they were taunting Piper. "Here we are you silly little dog. Quack. Come and get us if you dare! Quack." Needless to say, I yelled at the boys to come outside and I grabbed the camera.

Carter had a ball chasing the ducks around. There was a really cute video but it included my neighbor across the street using a bad word so I didn't want to post that one. (The neighbor across the street shall remain nameless but SHE knows who SHE is. :-)

Enjoy!

An Evening Downtown

After a few days inside with the boys, Scott and I decided that we should pack the boys up and head downtown to expend some energy outside. We took the boys for a walk over the Fall River Bridge and down by the river just to roam around. They watched people, dogs and the ducks and found sticks and rocks to through into the river. You know, normal little boy stuff! Grayson and I climbed on the big rocks near the bottom of the waterfall. Oh! What a site that was!!

We also enjoyed yummy ice cream from Spill the Beans (Daddy and Mommy had Starbucks).

If you haven't had the chance to get to Falls Park , you really should try it! There is so much to see and it really has turned into a beautiful area.

Trip to Baltimore July 2008

We recently took a trip to Baltimore to see my best friend Jenny and her boys (husband, Chris and Cole and the new baby). We normally head up a couple of times a year but had not been able to make it up yet this year. They welcomed a new baby boy, Rhys Alexander, in April and "Aunt Kelly" just had to get up to introduce herself!

We did the usual hanging out and just enjoying each other. The little ones, Grayson, Carter and Cole (their oldest, who is Carter's age) also enjoyed hanging out and already have what we think is the closest thing to sibling rivalry that we can think of.

We had a 4th of July cookout with another family that we have gotten to know in the Baltimore area, Heather and her belly (she is expecting a little boy in August), Mark and Sierra Lane. The Dads shot fireworks for the kiddos for about 2 minutes and it started raining. Needless to say, the kids were bummed but they quickly moved on to other activities.

We also ventured out into Washington DC for a day trip. We took all of the "littles" to the Natural History Museuam as well as to the Air and Space Museum. We rode the Metro into and home from DC which the boys enjoyed. Carter was a little afraid at first but he got used to it by the end of the trip in and was too tired to care on the way back.

As always, our trip to visit Jen and the family was fabulous and we miss them so much! They keep talking of moving "down south" and I am anxiously awaiting the day that I can visit without having to drive 9 hours to do so!

New bikes!

We made the decision that it was time to get the boys their first bicycles last night. Daddy had them all put together when the boys came downstairs this morning. It was like Christmas! Their eyes lit up and they couldn't wait to "ride"them. Riding consists of sitting on them and having Mommy push them at this point because they just can't seem to get the pedal thing down. Either way, they will be off and riding soon enough! I am glad to push them fo rthe time being. :-)

Annual Memorial Day Beach Trip

We have returned from a wonderfully relaxing and fun trip to Hilton Head. The boys had a blast! We rented bikes which we rode everyday, played on the beach, ate at great restaurants and just enjoyed one another's company. Gray and Cartie could not get dirty enough for their taste. If they were not digging in the sand, they were digging in the leaves and dirt that surround the beach house. I don't think there was one single day when both of the boys didn't have dirt on their faces and up their noses. I guess that means they really enjoyed themselves, huh?

We were able to spend a lot of quality time with Nanna and Poppa as usual but this year we were also joined by Aunt Shari and Baby Lily! What a treat! Poppy and Uncle Adam were camping right around the corner at Hunting Island State Park so we went over and hung out with them for a day too! This was trualy a "Family" Beach trip! We had plenty of opportunity to test out our new camera on this trip. I ended up taking right at 1000 pics during the 9 day stay! Such great memories!

A day of mudpies

We decided to do a little gardening last weekend and the boys wanted to help. They made mudpies and had the best time! I normally cringe at the thought of the boys getting so dirty! i know they are little boys but I hate to be dirty and therefore hate for my children to be dirty! Cartie ended up eating the mudpies! Yum!