Pumpkin Patch

Today, we went with Jake's preschool class to the Pumpkin Patch. Jake has enjoyed preschool so much - and it was great to do something so fun w/ his class before we have to move. After being in the 80s-90s earlier in the week (and humid), it has been in the low 50s the past 2 days - FREEZING!!! Thankfully, the sun was shining bright this morning :-) Here are some of the pictures from the day:

Jake was all into the funny faces today :-)

Another funny face....
"Spooky" Hay Ride.



Cheeeeeese :-)
About to enter the pumpkin patch ....
The owner explaining the "rules" for choosing a pumpkin ....
Jake with his teacher Ms. Pat (he loves her so much he told me) :-)
The pumpkin he picked (go figure .... but it had a funny, monster face already drawn on it).

The hardest part of the day was keeping Cole from throwing rocks. All you need is a pile of rocks for Cole - that will entertain him for hours (as long as you are watching to make sure he doesn't put them in his mouth)!
Class picture.
Funny face class picture :-)
More funny faces ....
Showing their pumpkins :-)
Fun day. Good memories. Probably one of many class trips to the pumpkin patch.

Swagger Wagon ....

Or so Chris likes to call it, for my sake :-) I never really "pictured" myself driving a mini-van, but life happens ... and I'm embracing it. I am especially liking the automatic sliding doors - oh my gosh, my 30-year old back has never felt so good! Also, I like how THIS car has cup holders big enough to fit a coffee mug ... it's the little things. So, this is our new ride ... and Chris found the below video on youtube - to help me adjust to this new "phase" in my life. (oh, and ps ... it's the Toyota Sienna ... they really do make minivans as cool as they possibly can be these days) :-)

Little Randomness

The other morning, Jake was all about pulling the winter stuff out of his closet. Maybe this was Jake's way of saying he wants to be in VA while Chris deploys?! I don't know .... but he was determined to wear it outside that day - and it is still hot mid-day here, so it took some convincing on my part that he didn't need that hat and mittens :-)

Playing with our friends Christopher and Stella. They actually are moving today, and Jake and Cole will definitely miss them!!
DENTIST! Let me just say, the pediatric dentist we go to here is great .... and his office is lots of fun! They took Jake back by himself (so no pictures), which hit home even more that he is becoming more and more of a big boy!! He did really well, though - and NO CAVITIES!! Here is Jake on the pirate ship in the office.
Cole was all about the arcade games - and the TV above the arcade games playing Toy Story (the kid loves Woody and Buzz). Cole did pretty well, too - except when we had to leave, and he was crying his eyes out, b/c he wanted to stay and play. It's not often you LEAVE the dentist kicking and screaming :-)
Jake had a rough injury weekend last weekend. First, he ran into the door when trying to throw away some trash and got a huge goose egg! (see video below that Chris took shortly after this happened - hilarious).
Cole has been all about wearing Jake's underwear these days, so here he is walking around w/ a diaper and underwear on top! Cole is a mystery to me ... this kid is wild. I really don't think there is any other way to describe him.
The second injury Jake got was when we were in Atlanta and he slammed Chris's truck door on his pinky finger :-( Poor kid. Still makes me cringe thinking about it, but he took it like a champ. We thought we were going to end up in the ER w/ a broken finger, but thankfully - it is healing on its own - and Aunt Jenn made it all better by buying him Toy Story, Cars, Scooby Doo, and Phineas and Ferb band-aids. Now, after he eats dinner, instead of asking me to "wipe his hands so he can go play, please", he says, "wipe my 9 fingers, so I can go play please" :-)


Here's a video from right after Jake ran into the door .... He was still able to answer all the important questions (and just FYI for my Dad, we are only temporarily cheering for Auburn ... when we move, we will stray from cheering from this team) ;-)

Here is the Kung Fu action that takes place in our house every night. This is actually a "low key" night, too. It's a nightly tradition, that's for sure.

HAIL to MY Redskins!!!

I LOVE Football. LOVE. I LOVE my Redskins. LOVE. I really don't think you can quite understand what I mean when I write about how MUCH I love football - and especially my Redskins. I LOVE Competition. Why do you think I fell in love with my husband?! I fell in love with the competitor in him!! (Okay, for so many other things, too, but I promise you that is in the top 5). As a competitor myself, there is nothing quite like the feeling of a good competition .... and there are few things better than FALL AIR and FOOTBALL.

I was on the Redskins season ticket waiting list for 10 years. My name finally arrived, but the Marine Corps had us living out in the desert of CA. So, I kept the tickets for a couple of years, and then it was just too hard to keep selling them, and I was never able to take advantage, so I (sadly) had to give them up.

When I was in VA last month, though, my Dad got a phone call that a friend of his had 2 tickets to the Redskins game that Sunday, and you know I jumped on THAT opportunity. I could go to every home game, I love it so much. There is something about being with 90,000 of your favorite football fans - all cheering for the same team. It brings tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my arms (yes, really)!!

It was so much fun going with Jul, too - and THEY WON. I'm pretty sure I'm their lucky charm. Yay for FALL. Yay for competition. Yay for football. Yay for the Redskins.

This video was taken with about 2 minutes left in the game. The Redskins were in the lead, but the Cardinals had the ball and were moving down the field. The Cardinals fumbled, but it had to be reviewed, so this video was taken while waiting for the referee to tell the fans what we ALREADY knew (from watching the replay on the big screen). I smile every time I watch this video. Every.single.time. Hail to my Skins!!!!!!

Beaufort/Virginia TRIP (finally, right)?!

About a month ago now, the toddler boys and I took a trip to Beaufort and then up to Virginia for the week. I am blessed to not only have 2 amazing boys - but they are AMAZING travelers. They really are! I'm blessed by that, b/c I love to travel (by car, at least) - and because of Chris's job, we have to DO a lot of traveling, so it works out perfectly :-) It has taken me forever to post pictures, and I honestly didn't even pull out my camera - they are all from my phone. For some reason, it has been getting harder and harder with Jake and Cole to carry around my camera, but I will persevere, I promise :-) So, here we go - our adventure up half of the east coast ....

First stop: Beaufort, SC for Kendall's 1st Birthday Party and to see Ashleigh.

Sweet, sweet birthday girl!

Jake and Casey were so excited to see each other - and played so nicely the entire party. It melted my heart to see how much fun they were having together and realizing how much they have missed each other.
Singing Happy Birthday!
She did NOT mess around when it came to eating up that cake.

Second stop: "Miss" Asheleigh's House. Unfortunately, this stay was undocumented :-( Cole actually came down with a high fever that night - out of nowhere. It was still so wonderful to spend time with Ashleigh face to face. I've missed that girl!

Third stop: Fredericksburg/Stafford, VA.

The absolute BEST part about being back in Virginia is Carlos O Kelley's chips, salsa, and queso (okay, the second best thing to seeing family and friends .... but it's a close call) :-)

This was dinner and breakfast for me A LOT during the week.
Of course we always get the opportunity to see "Uncle" Ray and "Aunt" Jean, so here is Jake soaking up all the male attention :-)
Playground one evening. Jake FELL from this. He was running, tripped, and fell right off flat on his face :-( I thought for sure he would have a broken tooth, but thankfully, just a scraped up face .... my heart only stopped for a few minutes.
Here we are at the playground .... the little speck you see in the FAR distance is Cole running .... running as far as he can and enjoying the open space. The.kid.does.not.stop.EVER. He even moves ridiculous amounts in his sleep .... I hear it on the monitor at night :-)
Jake's face the next day - actually doesn't look that bad in this picture .... he was making a pretend sad face :-)
Cake POPS adventure w/ Mimi. Lots of work, BUT lots of FUN!








Let me just say .... SO YUMMMY!!!!
Oh yeah, the boys know what's up!
Finished Fall Product. Jake picked out a particular one to take with him to Gram, Poppy, Aunt Becky, Aunt Katy, and Aunt Jenn .... and "Uncle" Ray and "Aunt" Jean.
We got to hang out with Taniya and her 2 youngest. Jake and Gracie are the same age - and when they weren't fighting at the Chick-fil-A playground, they were best friends :-) So sweet!
The REASON I headed up to Virginia was for Libby's baby shower. Libby is having her first baby in December, and I'm so excited for her and Greg!! I was so glad to get to celebrate this exciting time with her! She looks absolutely beautiful. It's crazy to think that just a few short years ago (or I guess several years ago now), we were pulling all-nighters in college .... and now, well now.... we're all grown up. I'm excited for baby boy to get here.
Not pictured: I do not even have 1 picture of all the fun times the boys had with Gram and Poppy and Aunt Katy, Becky, and Jenn. Jake spent Monday and Thursday going to school in Aunt Becky's class - and LOVED it. When I dropped him off on Thursday, he went running straight to the classroom. Both Jake and Cole spent the night on Friday night (which Jul and I used that opportunity to take Mom and Dad out to celebrate their 35th Anniversary at Melting Pot), and then on Saturday they spent all day there and went to see Snow White on stage at the dinner theater. It was a special day for them, and I really appreciate Gram and Poppy (and the aunts, of course) hanging out and playing with them for 24 hours! It was a nice little break for me - and I know the boys loved it. I wish I had some pictures .... Booo on me.

Jul and I headed to the Redskins game on Sunday (that will be my next post - because lets be honest, it definitely deserves its OWN post). Then, Monday morning 3:45AM .... the boys and I loaded the car and headed back to Georgia .... 12 hours later, we made it. Most people ask how I survived a 12 hour car trip alone - and yes, bathroom stops are always a little tricky, but honestly .... like I've said - they are great travelers ... and also, for 12 hours, they were CONFINED - haha! I wasn't chasing them around or refereeing, etc., so honestly .... it was quite relaxing :-) #justsayin'