Fun with the Smith Family

The Smith family came for a visit! We always enjoy it when our friends from Tuscaloosa stop by for some fun. Audrey, Wade, Titus, and Alice spent the night with us Thursday night. We caught up all the kids' birthdays which was great because everyone got a present. Then all the kiddos took a bath together. It was a great night. Thanks for coming! We miss you!!

Alice and Noah

Titus

Joshua

There's story behind this picture. Joshua decided to "read" a book to Titus. He picked out the Brown Bear book which he has memorized. After he read "I see a (insert animal) looking at me." He would turn the book around and pan the picture to the room just like his teacher does to the class during circle time. Titus kept saying "Why you do that? I right here. I can see the picture!" That did not deter Joshua who kept on reading his book. Ha, ha!

Chatham a winner...

Here is the article from the photo contest that Noah won:
Emily Chatham, SCS Construction-Plant Crist, was the winner of the 101 Days of Summer photo contest.

Chatham submitted a photo of her 13-month-old son, Noah, sleeping in the arms of his grandfather on Pensacola Beach this summer.

The photo was the top choice among more than 20 summer photos submitted by employees at Gulf Power during the 101 Days of summer.

All employees could vote on the top photos. A tie for second was between Debbi Felt and Carl Jackson, both of Risk Management.

Chatham, whose husband Matt also works for SCS Construction at Plant Crist, also submitted a second photo of her other son, Joshua, 3.

"I wish I had put them in the same photo," she said.

She received a Target Zero safety blanket to use the next time they go out to the beach.

Pumpkin Patch Part II/ Doughnut Thief

You want some corn?

We took the boys to another pumpkin patch over the weekend. This was a place near our house called Holland Farms. They grew pumpkins, had an inflatable jumper, a hayride, a maze, a big slide, animals, and a sand box filled with corn.  Joshua was too timid to try out the jumper. We got his shoes off and he started to climb inside then he put the brakes on and said "No. I'm not big enough."  He and Noah really liked the maze, but their favorite part was the corn box. They loved playing in the corn! The weather was pretty nice as in not too too hot but very dusty. The hayride was ok though a little long for the boys' attention span. I must admit Joshua spent a lot of time "posing" with the pumpkins as he did at the previous pumpkin patch, though we did not take pictures this time... The slide was super fast. I don't have a great track record with Joshua and slides but I held him on this one and wound up with the bruises on my back to prove it. Luckily daddy did much better and Joshua loved it!

We went out for dinner Saturday night and at Joshua's begging request we got some doughnuts for breakfast. We handed Joshua his doughnut and was getting breakfast ready for Noah when he went after big brother's food. I love this picture because Joshua is so concerned and Noah has climbed into his brother's chair with a devilish grin. Joshua kept saying "He's trying to eat my donut!" We did feed Noah after we snapped this photo. Oh and if you notice Noah looks a bit rosy, he proved that yes you still can get sunburned in late October.

Mr. Independent

Here is "the" Buzz Lightyear flying in the backyard

There is a saying that we hear quite frequently at our house. Sometimes it's stated matter-of-factly, other times in a shrill pitch or through gritted teeth. What are those magic words:
I do it all by myself!

That's right, Joshua has become Mr. Independent. Getting to school/ work on time has just become a more challenging task as Joshua insists on dressing himself - even if it means his underwear is inside out and backwards. (I'm a mean mommy and insist this be corrected.) To complicate matters Noah recently figured out how to take his pants off which he loves to do then run free through the house. Of course Noah's easier to handle because if I put shoes on he can't manage to take his pants off.

It's not just getting dressed but all kinds of activities he wants to do solo. But I guess that is a part of growing up and as much as this mommy wants to molly-coddle and do everything for him, it's probably good that he asserts some independence. And it would probably be fair to note that he comes by this independent streak honestly as there's a story or two about his mommy and her stubborn, I mean independent ways. ;)

And here's the Sheriff keeping an eye on things.

And here's my Mr. Independent sleeping like an angel. Isn't he the best?

Pumpkin Patch/ Touchdown!

We had a fun weekend. First we took the boys to the pumpkin patch at the church. Joshua was really excited about this and couldn't get enough of patting the pumpkins and trying to pick them up. Noah on the other hand kept running away to the parking lot. He didn't care for them and couldn't get away fast enough. We still got some great pics of the boys choosing pumpkins for the house. I have a side story about the pumpkin patch. In an attempt to get an artsy picture I told J to sit on a pumpkin and rest his hands on the pumpkin in front of him. Apparently I wasn't specific enough because he did do this, except he chose a pumpkin two in front of the one where he was sitting making it look like more of a seductive pose - generally NOT what you are going for at a church function... or ever! For a little added flourish his overalls were falling off. His daddy was so proud....

Okay so later that day Alabama played Ole Miss and it was a killing (52-7). The best part was that Noah learned how to signal "Touchdown!" It was really sweet. It has been a fun football season this year with Alabama having a great season. We have enjoyed dressing the boys up in their colors and listening to Joshua cheer for Bama. He'll say "Come on Bama! Roll Tide!"

Our trip to Disney World

Hey, it stopped raining! (Magic Kingdom)

Turkey Leg and Beer at Epcot. Yum!

 Matt and I took an anniversary trip to Disney World. Let me explain all of our disclaimers up front. We decided to go in October because it's really too hot and crowded to go on our actual anniversary in July and I was nursing Noah at the time. Secondly we decided not to take the boys because they are too young to really remember it thus making this our scouting trip to plan for the family trip. But back to the trip, it was a lot of fun! Matt had never been and I had only when once when I was very young. We stayed at Coronado Springs and spent 3 days visiting the parks. Our trip began by driving the boys to Brmingham to stay with family (who knew you had to leave FL to go to Orlando?). Then we flew to Orlando. We visited the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. The first day we had monsoon-like rain most of teh day. Luckily in all my planning I packed inexpensive ponchos for Matt and me - $1.29 at Target vs. $15.95 at Disney. I also used a website, Touringplans.com, which has maps and itineraries for virtually any type of group. I highly recommend it for anyone planning a trip to Disney World. It was great! We followed the itinerary which also provided tips about when to get FAST Passes and ended up riding everything we wanted. Don;t get me wrong, we criss-crossed all over the park, but knew where to be when to catch rides and shows. The website also had an app which was semi-helpful. I preferred going old school and carrying my map/ itinerary in a plastic baggy (which was thoroughly soaked by the end of Day 1). It was so much fun! We missed our boys but enjoyed spending time together.

Awesome LEGO creation

Seriously, look at that rain!!

Buzz is friendly!

The boys first stayed with Grandottie and Jerry Pop in Huntsville and then went to stay with Grandma and Grandpa in Birmingham. They had a great time. Grandpa and Granddaddy even took Joshua fishing for the first time! When Matt and I got back to Birmingham we had a surprise for Joshua. Matt and I had picked up a plush Mickey Mouse which we strapped into his car seat. (Noah had one too but he really wasn't that interested, though he did squeal with delight when he saw his mommy and daddy come to get him.) Joshua's face lit up when he saw Mickey and he hugged him and asked 'Did you come all the way from Disney World?" It was very sweet! Our small camera died when we got to the resort so the only photos we have are the ones we took on our phones.

Fun at the Beach

In an attempt to really be on top of our holiday greeting cards this year and because the weather was so nice we went to the beach over the weekend. The weather was perfect and in typical fashion, out of the gazillion pictures we took, you can count on both hands the number of pictures where they are both looking at the camera at the same time! Plus Joshua wanted to put the big stockings on his feet and the small stockings on his hands. He's such a clown! It was still fun and we got to enjoy lunch at The Grand Marlin. Yum! I'm not sure that we took "the" picture but we have some ideas for next time. Oh and as a bonus a nice lady decided to take our picture on the beach.