Fun Weekend Visitors

My sister and her boyfriend, Cliff, came for the weekend! They got here late Friday night and left after church this weekend. We had a wonderful visit and we already want them to come back!

Today Jack Said:

Ba-way!!!!

We were watching curious George together. George was at the opera "Handsel and Gretel" and Gretel started singing Graces "with my feet I tap tap tap" song that she does at dance. He screams out ballet! Which sounds like "ba-waaaaaayyyy!!"

I guess he is learning a little too. :)

Nature Walking

This week we left the child sized latex gloves on the shelf and went on a nature walk. The kids wore wide tape bracelets and stuck their findings to them. They saw grasshoppers, spiders, ants, and even a bunny! We have been learning about the parts of a plant and different kinds of seeds over the past two weeks so it was good to find some examples in real life.

Here they are trying to look at the bunny who was not too keen on the 4 and 5 year olds. ;-)


Graces "bracelet" all ready for an activity next week!


After lunch, Grace and Ella usually play together with some of the other little kids. Jack, however, LOVES PE! He likes to do the stretching with all the big kids. It's hilarious. He watches...


And then gives it a try!


So fun!

Our Sunday In Arkansas

Sunday was a busy but neat day in Arkansas. We started by going to visit Grandmother. I love these pictures. Seriously. Love. Them.

Isn't my Mama beautiful!

Then we all (skipped church and) drove up to Fayetteville for lunch and then headed on to the War Eagle Mill for it's semi-annual festival. When I was a kid we went to the mill a couple of times but mom was the only one who had been during the festival before. I think she was a little disappointed in how it had changed. There weren't hardly any artists or craftsmen working. It was mostly just standard craft fair offerings. But we had fun anyway!


First up was ice cream for the kiddos.


We crossed the old one lane bridge and saw the water wheel.


The War Eagle Mill! Grace was really excited about seeing this. One of her favorite books is "Pancakes! Pancakes!" by Eric Carle. She has it memorized verbatim. Since she already knew all about the process of grinding wheat she was excited to see it actually happening!


"Is that the miller?!?" She probably revered the miller more than anyone else on the premises! She got to talk to him and he even gave her a small bag of grain freshly ground. She kept it in her pocket. :)


We walked around and looked at the items but didn't buy anything.



Then Jack found his favorite spot, listening to the bluegrass band! He tapped his little hands on his knees and bobbed his head. He wanted to know what each instrument was and would keep asking about them even though we had already explained it 50 jillion times already. One thing is most definitely for certain: that boy loves music and he is going to play in the very near future. The band leader appreciated his enthusiasm so much that he gave him a pic! Jack held it and pretended to strum an imaginary guitar.


Grace was not as keen on the live music as her brother. It was a little loud (cause you know she's got some sensitive ears).


But a little rock candy makes any situation wonderful!


I think they could have stayed all day...


But it was time to head back over the rivers and through the woods and over the hills and through the tunnels. What a beautiful beautiful creation the Ozarks are! Especially in the fall! It was a long day, but a good one and one I will remember for a long time.

Jack may remember it too because Tuesday when we were driving to school he asked "where. is. hoppy. hoppy. tunnel?" (meaning the Bobby Hopper Tunnel) Oh, my! What a precious child that is!

Our Saturday In Arkansas

We have had a great day today! We got up, had Shipley Doughnuts and headed up to Lake Fort Smith. Mom had to work so it was just dad, the kids and me.

We started by tramping through the woods on the Warren Hollow Trail.

Paw Paw makes sure to stop and tell the kids all about all the nature stuff.


He even found Grace a great walking stick. She was impressed!





Then we headed to the playground. Jack is SO cute lately. He is talking up a storm and his personality has exploded along with his vocabulary! He is such a happy kid. Even when he is perturbed he still has a sense of happy about him... Maybe it's just that he is easily consoled. He went up the steps and down the slide over and over singing "We All Sing With the Same Song". Super duper cute!


Grace made a friend and they played hide and seek, tag, and pretended to be dogs and dug holes all over the play area.


Jack on the big slide. :)


Picnic lunch before heading home.


To harvest sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts! Grace was not too keen on smiling at the camera because she smashed her finger on a rock and then got spider guts on her when Paw Paw killed one near her.


Jack was undeterred despite sticking his hand into some sort of rotting animal feces. Oh, Lordy. I was seriously grossed out. We washed his hands in hot water, dish soap and hydrogen peroxide... Twice! Ugh!


We found a whole lot of roly polies. Jack calls them Woly powies.


Then the kids played in the dry creek bed.


Jack threw rocks.


Grace found a butterfly bush full of butterflies!


After baths, snacks, naps and me making curtains for our master bathroom we ate our veggie plate dinner on the deck. Brussel sprouts, sprout leaves, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, carrots, and chicken and dumplings. Yum.


Jack ate most of his (no big suprise).


Grace did a good job trying hers (not surprising either) ;-)


Then the kids played for a while. Here is Jack with "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Anybody remember that VHS? Well, it's a popular one at Nana and Paw Paw's!


He kept saying "I'm Mista Pott! I stuck unda Chitty Bang Bang. Ooowww! I hit my head!"


Grace came to fill her up. They love this game and have played it since this summer.


Jack tried to blow a pinwheel. He doesn't exactly know how to blow yet and just says "FFFFFFFFFF". It's super cute.


Jack and I enjoyed some quality time together while Nana graded papers and Paw Paw and Grace made a Commanders Palace pecan pie... Which is just about ready to eat now... So I think I'll go have a piece and perhaps skim the new Southern Living.

It's been a good day.

"We Made It!"

It's been too long, Arkansas! I'm SO glad to be back!

As we pulled up the kids screamed "We made it! We made it! We made it!"

Jack said "is bu-full!"

Northwest Arkansas in the fall is most definitely a beautiful place to be for sure, Jack.

Byrd Homecoming Parade 2012

We were getting ready to take the kids over to granny and papas house while we hosted community group when my friend Emily texted and said the Byrd High homecoming parade was starting in a little bit and we could see it from our yard! I'm glad we were able to stay and participate with all of our neighborhood friends. What a blessing it is to have so many good friends all within a couple of blocks, all with little ones! Here are a few pictures...

Grace cheering on Aubrey as he runs the "track loop" in our front yard.

Spotting the police car coming!


This was my group shot! Ha! I wanted to get a real group shot but with all those kiddos it was near about impossible... We got to visit with the Wilkerson's, Thomas', Montgomery's, Martha and her grandson Jake, and we even ran into some old college friends the Osborne's who now have a little boy!


Aubrey and Jack ready to catch some candy!


The little boys were very excited about the fire truck!


Watching and waiting...


Love this blurry pic of JW. His daddy is a coach at Byrd so he has a special jersey and got some extra candy thrown to him. :)


My 2 kiddos!



It was a very very nice parade. Perfect for the little kids! And now I have candy for Halloween. ;-) hahaha!

This definitely needs to become a tradition!