Trunk or Treat

My parents church does a big trunk or treat for Halloween. I took the kids and we had a great time!

The Dive!!!

Kelly took me to Six Flags in October 2004 for my birthday (about 8 months before we got married) and here's a little video of our Dive!

On Havens bday

Since we were in Alabama - we celebrated Havens bday a little differently. We woke and had hot cocoa - such a special treat.

Opened cards from Daddy and everyone far away

Took cute pictures

Played outside

And went with Friends Mr Chris, Mrs Jessica and Zayden to a haunted Hay Ride (No, I would not normally be ok with a "haunted" hay ride) that had storytime at the end put on by professionals.

It was fun!

Haven turns 3!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!!

She is so full of life - I love watching her interact with others, especially her brother. I do believe he is her favorite!

Havens 3year old characteristics are:
1. She refers to her self as kitty cat. As in, the kitty cat is hungry or the kitty cat is crying.
2. She does still get easily frustrated and will cry first instead of using her words. But is usually easily redirected.
3. Neil is way better with dealing with her than me
4. She is a princess
5. Princesses are her favorite - Sleeping Beauty being #1, besides kitty cats
6. She can tell great stories - when not being overshadowed by her brother
7. She loves to dance and sing and wear pretty things.
8. All things pink are her favorite.
9. She is compassionate and gives the sweetest kisses
10. Her facial expressions are super cute and often very animated.
11. She is super smart and remembers the smallest details.

Haven is fun to be around. She still will throw fits, but is quick to straighten out after sitting by herself for a little bit.

Haven and Justus play so much together and it is the cutest thing. I love hearing their laughter.

Happy Birthday Haven - you are precious to me!!!!

Old Baker Farm Pumpkin Patch

My parents took the kids and me to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. Its always fun to see how things are different in Alabama. Sometimes its way better and sometimes I long for what I know in Ca.

This Farm is a real working farm so it was cool to be there. The biggest difference I noticed was the cotton. In Ca, cotton isnt really incorporated. But in Al, there was a whole huge trailer full of cotton for the kids to play in. My kids LOVED it and thought it was so cool. And there was a cotton growing that the kids could pick. I thought that was cool!

Then they got to go for a horse ride. That is always fun! Then on to the hay maze. Justus had a great time jumping all over the hay.

We visited the animals. There were goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, baby cows and a horse. We even got to go to the top of the barn where the hay is kept. That was really cool and you know my kids ran all over that.

There was a hay pyramid for the kids to climb up. Justus loved that too and they even had a worker at the top helping the littles up. Haven liked it too, but she didnt get quite as high.

Next we took the hay ride over to the pumpkin patch where we got to pick our own pumpkins. It was quite a big area so we got to really hunt for the best one!

Good times at the pumpkin patch!!

Old Baker Farm Pumpkin Patch - Pictures

Fall Painting

We always try to do some fun stuff to get us in the mood for the season. The other day the kids painted pumpkins. The only part I helped them with was the outline for the pumpkin. I thought they turned out quite well!

Justus Fish

Here is the first fish Justus caught. He was so proud of himself!

City kids become country kids

We do have a long way to go to becoming country kids, but yesterday we had fun on Ms. Anitas Farm. She has horses, fishing ponds, a great barn, trails to ride the golf cart on and over 70 acres to expolore.

We took a golf cart ride down to the barn and lake. Coleman was with us and he is about Js age so that was fun. The kids got the lay of the land, then off to fishing they went. Justus did so good. He caught a fish all by himself. He reeled it in without any help!! He caught several fish while we were there. I was so proud of him. Mr. Dereck was on hand to help worm the hooks and cast out. Haven and I just sat and watched!

The it was onto the canoe for a trip around the lake.

We took a ride around the property on the golf cart. It was fun but we had to watch out for limbs. (which when Coleman said limbs it sounded like lambs bc of his accent so J swore they were lambs!) and told the kids to duck and cover their eyes.

When we got back we headed up to the barn for a picnic and some playtime on the haybales. We love Ms. Anitas house!!!

City kids become country kids - Pictures

Our "new" normal

The kids and I have taken a trip to Alabama to stay with my mom and help her recover from her surgery. She will have surgery on Weds the 20th. In the mean time, we are adjusting to our new life as we will be here for just about 2 months.

The kids are sharing a room, which they are doing very well. The only difficulty is J gets up earlier than Haven and ineveitabley wakes her up. Then they both want to be up and its usually somewhere between 5:30 and 6. That is just toooo early for me.

Also, our days dont have the schedule/routine that we have at home. Every day is a playday essentially. There is tons of stuff to do here...its so beautiful and my parents live on about 1 1/2 to 2 acres of land, so plenty of room to roam. But at home, we have preschool, dance and gymnastics that fill our mornings. Here it is my kids and me. Im really going to try hard to give some responsibility to the day, but even so, it usually is only for 30 min or so and thats not to long when your day starts at 6 and you go, go, go until noon.

Anyways.... in the mean time, this is what we love best....Family time!! And the great outdoors!

Fall Fun

Yesterday we took the opportunity to enjoy the beginnings of Fall. After the kids flu shots, which Justus has such an aversion to (which is well understood seeing how he saw so many doctors when he was new) and Haven didnt even flinch. Both got lollipops and we went on our way.

I decided the day should be fun so we started out going to see a friend whose dog just had puppies. Last year this same dog had a litter and Haven was in love with the puppies. This time, she would have nothing to do with them. The puppies are only a couple weeks old and last time they were older and moving around so I think that is the difference.....anyway, here is a pic of Justus checking them out.

Next we headed home for lunch and a super quick nap.

Then it was off to the PUMPKIN PATCH! One of my favorite things to do as a mom is take my kids to the pumpkin patch. I love it, they love it, and you get great pics. We invited our friends Miss Whitney, Hannah (Justus crush) and Claire (Havens dance buddy) to join us.

Except - it was closed. I swear the website said it was open, but, no dice. Sooooo whats a mom, her kids and friends to do.......hunt out great picture taking places that arent blocked off.

We found some great photo opps and even went into the orchard...thats ok, right? RIGHT??

Finally we made it to a pumpkin patch with real pumpkins. More great photos:

And the kids found some toys to play with:

We ended the day with corn dogs and Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Yay for Fall fun!