What We've Been Up To...

We have been pretty busy here getting ready for Halloween, Kate's birthday and keeping up with all the schoolwork! One big visable change around here is the beautiful lush carpet of grass we have in the front yard now! It just looks so pretty and we are all excited to have real grass!! The other morning, Ben and I were looking out the front windows and saw 8 deer in the front. There were about 3 or 4 mommies and the rest were babies. It was so neat to watch them- of course, I think they were out there eating the new grass and grass seed! Kate is walking all over the place and is getting 2 more teeth. She thinks she is pretty big stuff now. Always walking with atleast one thing in her hand and usually 2 or 3. She has taken a liking to a stuffed black bear we got for Will when he was a baby. It is really soft and she carries that thing everywhere. She still only has eyes for bunny when it is nap time but that darn bear goes everywhere with us. And she hugs and pats its back. So cute! Ben is desperate to ride his bike without training wheels. Ron raised the wheels up a little and he is practicing.

Will was named Good Citizen of the Month for his class. That is a pretty big honor and he takes it quite seriously. There is a breakfast next week for all the GC's from each grade. He had his first field trip yesterday. The Kindergarten classes went to Hunter Farms. They had hay rides, a petting zoo and each child was able to pick a pumpkin. He was so proud of his pumpkin when he got home.

Ron, Kate and I are getting over colds and we hope all to be well by Kate's big day next week! Can't wait to post pictures from Halloween later! And, Ben has some exciting news to share! (no, there is not going to be another baby!)

Halloween Sneak Peak

Just wanted to share a sneak peak of Kate's and Ben's halloween costumes. I made Ben's and found Kate's this weekend.

The Great Cracker Caper

Sweet, Little Kate. That is what she would like you to think! With all of her new mobility she is getting into everything! Over the weekend, Kate went into the snack pantry (yes, we have a pantry full of snacks!) and pulled out every box of crackers until she found one that she could open and get into. When Ron and I came around the corner, there she was, our little angel, sitting in a pile of sesame street crackers- spilled all over the floor I had just cleaned! The boys said- 'Miss Kate, you need to clean that mess up. Mommy is not going to do it'. If only she could! Anyway, just thought I would share this cute picture of the accused!

First Parent Teacher Conference

So, I need to brag a little on Will. We had his teacher conference on Thursday morning. Ron, Kate and I went up to school and met with Mrs. Szura. First off, she is such a sweet teacher! She just gushed about Will and how bright and sweet he is (maybe that is why I like her so much!). Now, being his mother, I am well aware how bright he is (HAHA) and sweet (most of the time)- but to hear this from his teacher just seems to make it more concrete! It was so fun to see the papers he has worked on over the last 6 weeks. How much better he is writing and coloring and all that fun kindergarten stuff. She told us that he is so much more focused when he gets in class in the morning. They have pre- school work that they work on prior to the bell that reviews what they are working on. So, suffice it to say, we were very happy with Will's progress so far. Can't wait to see where he is in January!!

I Can Go By Myself!

This morning on the way to preschool, Ben announced that he could walk to school all by himself. I asked him what he meant by that because it sure would be a long walk from our house to preschool. He said 'No, Mommy. I can walk in all by myself, Will does it!' I said that I was pretty sure you had to have a Mommy or Daddy walk you in and that when he was in K, he could walk in by himself. He said that would be okay but I couldn't walk with him today.. Funny little boy! So, I told him that I would just walk behind him and he could go all by himself. That lasted all of 20 feet- then he was glued to my leg! Not so big, afterall!

A Special Lunch With A Good Citizen

As you know, today was Columbus Day. Ron had the day off and Will had school, so I thought it would be nice if I could go have lunch with Will. I had carpool this morning so I thought I would walk Will in and make sure it would not be interfering with the days activities if I were to come have lunch. When we got to his class, Ms. Lewis told me that Will had earned the Good Citizen award and would be on the schools TV news broadcast if I would like to stay. Will had no idea he had earned this award and it was just awesome that I was there to share it with him! He got his ribbon and button, went down to the media center and they showed him along with all the other Good Citizens (each classroom has a GC each week). When they announced Will, all the children in his class cheered! It was so cute! So, anyway, I left and came back for lunch with him. Brought him McDonalds and we sat back in the parent room and had a nice lunch. It was so nice to just be with him and talk about his day! He is so proud to be the Good Citizen! Ms. Lewis told me that he has been working so hard to earn this. She has really noticed his behavior. He talks about it at home all the time and we have been talking about what makes a good citizen so I guess all the talk made a difference! He was really excited when he got home to tell me that his table earned the most marbles today (this has never happened) and they got to have M&M's at the end of the day! What a great day for our little Will!!

She Walks, She Stands

Well, now she can stand all by herself, too! She started doing this new trick yesterday. Was in the middle of the room when she decided she needed to stand up and walk over to me. It was so cute to see her- she was so proud!

Another One Bites The Dust

Will lost his second tooth today! It fell out at school and he was so excited when he got off the bus! Hope the tooth fairy is good to him tonight!

Kate Is Walking

Thought we would share some video of Kate walking. She has been getting more and more steady over the last few days. She loves to walk! Only wants to hold one finger if any at all. Spent the evening walking into the kitchen, around the table and back into the livingroom. She thinks she is so big now! At church today, the nursery workers said she may have to move up to the older room because she is walking over the little ones that are just crawling. She is SO advanced!!

Boys Weekend

The boys got back from their boys weekend to the UT football game. They packed up and left yesterday morning, Met up with Gran in Knoxville and had a great time at the game! The picture is of the boys in front of a huge blow up Smokey someone had set up at their tailgating spot. What a fun weekend for the boys! Gran was able to get great tickets from a friend and they sat 7 rows up from the field near the endzone! Great seats and great new UT gear! Will and Ben said they had a great time, loved the game, sleeping in a hotel and eating breakfast at the free breakfast in the hotel. Boy, when the figure out that restaurants sell breakfast, we are going to be in trouble. Tonight, when I was putting Will to bed, he said 'Mommy, do you know what my favorite thing about the whole weekend was? It was seeing smokey run the football players out on the field before the game and at the halftime. He wanted to run all over the place! He had a leash so he couldn't. I really liked that dog!!'

Kate's New Kicks

With the boys all gone to the UT game, it was up to me to take Kate shopping. We were on a mission to find her first pair of shoes. She is walking pretty good now and wants to walk everywhere. Found the cutest little t-straps in Stride Rite. Wanted to find some pink ones, but those were a little too crazy. She really likes them. Keeps tapping her feet! What fun buying little girl shoes!! Can't wait to get her some red ones!!!

Why We Can't Go To The Artic

Conversation from this morning on our way to soccer:



Will: Mommy, can we go to the Artic?

Me: I don't think so, it's pretty cold (and REALLY far away!).

Ben: (As I am answering, and VERY matter of factly) We can't, we don't have fur coats.

Will: (As if this is the only thing stopping us..)They have them at the mall; don't they, Mommy?



So, as that is true... I guess we should start planning a trip!!

Kate's Love Song

During lunch today Ben sang Kate the sweetest song! I had gotten up and gone back to our room and I heard him start out singing! I stayed in the hall so he wouldn't stop and I wrote down all I could remember. It went something like this:

Kate is so sweet, we love her so much.
Everyone loves her.
She likes bananas.
She cries sometimes.
When you take something from
her you have to give it back.
She is pretty and I love her!

He sang for about 3 or 4 minutes, so this is just what I could get! I wish I had the video camera going because it was so darn cute! And how great would it be to show it to him when he was older!!!