A Little Cool Front

Since we had this nice cool front come through (and the highs have only barely been 90!) we decided to pull out all the fall and winter clothes I had packed up for the kids. Don't you just love a chubby cheeked little baby in a hat?!? I'm not sure it gets much better...

We are SO totally ready for Christmas lights in Natchitoches this year! Bring on the meat pies and funnel cakes!

I think Grace is finally the perfect age for all things holiday. 3 year olds are just too much fun! And sweet Jack will be as to do so much more than sleep through everything this year! I am officially ready for fall now.

Family Lunch

We have been SO busy lately. Sorry for the lack of blogging. I feel like we are super busy but I'm never quite sure what is keeping us that way. It's just life I guess! Today we had a family lunch with lots of folks from my moms side of the family. It was good to see so many people that I haven't seen in years. Im pretty sure it was the first time most people had met the kids. I am glad that we live closer to family now so that we can be included in family get-togethers. You can see some pictures Over at my cousin Lindsey's blog. Even though she has a new little one and a two year old she seems to do a great job of documenting on her blog! I'm glad she took a bunch of pictures and blogged about today! Thanks Lindsey!

Musings On A Morning Walk

Grace wasn't super thrilled about the idea of going on a walk this morning... She really wanted to play inside. But since I knew it was going to be 104 (or whatever) again today the morning was going to be our only chance to get outside. So we went and I tried to make up games for her to play while she was in the stroller. I told her to try and look for different things (like an I spy type game) and her first spotting...

The letters S-T-O-P. Now, we have only covered through letter L in our morning lessons, so I was pretty impressed that she already knew those letters (and the order in which you read them).

Then she kept on talking about how she wanted to climb trees. I asked her which tree she would climb and she said "those right there!" and pointed to the tallest pine trees in sight...


Somebody's gonna have to give this kiddo tree climbing lessons (and it's not gonna be me). When asked what she wanted to do when she got to the top she said, "look around and swing in those branches and stuff... You know." Well, of course! How silly of me to ask!

And can I just add that I love that not only is our neighborhood absolutely beautiful (and yes, I know it is kind of ironic that we are living here in this season of less than abundant income) but the fact that in between this house...


And this house...


Stands this little modern gem...


Makes my little architect heart smile Every. Single. Time. I pass by.

What My 3 Year Old Learned in Sunday School

First, let me say that I am SO THANKFUL Grace is enjoying church again. It just makes Sunday mornings so much more enjoyable to know that your kid is not in a room crying somewhere. I was seriously stressed about what to do with my child who did NOT want to go to Sunday School.

You can imagine how pleased I was to find my girl happy when I went to collect her at the end of church today. She was putting her shoes back on (the wrong feet) and could hardly stop telling me about all the fun she had been having. So what did this girl do at Sunday School today? Allow me to inform you!

She made new friends that I need to meet next time... Hooper(?), another boy who looked like Benny but who wasn't Benny, another girl named Grace, Ella, Georgia Kate and Ryleigh (but Ryleigh wasn't there today).

She heard a story about JESUS! (imagine that!)

She colored a picture of JESUS! I asked her what he looked like and she said he was all different colors like red and blue and pink, but not black because she couldn't find that crayon... and the crayons were in jars with-OUT lids... on the table... and everyone got to color.

She got to sing songs like "This Little Light of Mine" and "The Wheels on the Bus".

She got to dance.

She also told me that Mandy (a good friend who helps teach her class) said she needed to eat a peanut butter and JELLY (we usually have honey) sandwich when she got home. She said this on the way home from eating lunch out.

Last but not least she walked in the door when we got home, found a cross shaped foam sticker, slapped it up on the edge of the kitchen cabinet and declared "That cross is so we will remember Jesus Christ is Lord".

And there you go.

Pinched Fingers!

Jack is starting to communicate. Babbling stuff like Dadada, Bababa, Mamama (though the mama thing not as often as I would like)... You know. Anyway, he also likes to do this screech/scream thing. It's like he's saying "Listen up, folks! It's my turn to talk!"

So the other day Grace was making her peanut butter and honey sandwich at lunch and Jack was standing at the recycling trash can. Jack started doing this screeching thing and it looked like like he was doing it because his fingers were shut it the trash can lid and he was in pain. So I ran over and removed his fingers and told him "no no" and moved him back to his spot of toys. And then as soon as I went back to making the rest of lunch he went right back to playing at the recycling. And then he screeched again and I repeated the previous events. And of course it had become a game and jack went right back over to the recycling. And he screeched again. But this time when I looked at that pain stricken face I noticed that his fingers were not even shut in the can! He was faking! He just wanted the attention! Ha! I love this kid and his budding personality... Screeches and all!