Roasting Marshmallows

Winter Wonderland

Reading Festival

We went to a local reading festival. At the festival, J-Man got to meet Clifford the Big Red Dog, play hockey with a plastic stick and ball, and get a snake balloon. It was fun, but we didn't do anything that had to do with reading! :) J even decided he'd rather play hockey than go to story time.

Ci Ci's Pizza

Little Miss Independent insisted on feeding herself.

She did a great job and didn't make too big of a mess either.

E's First Haircut

It started out as just an appointment for big brother.... I asked if they could trim the back of E's neck and get rid of her "duck tail." They called it a 'bang trim' and obliged! She did surprisingly well and enjoyed chewing on her very own comb.

Trip to Visit Family

We took the kids to the Grove Park Inn to see the gingerbread house competition. The houses were amazing.





We tried to get a good pic of the three kiddos, but this was as good as it got!


J really wanted to jump and I couldn't resist the photo opportunity! I ended up pulling him down and pushing him up until he got the hang of it. It was a little scary to watch his face grow paler and paler. After 5-6 jumps he would ask to be stopped and we'd wait a few seconds and start up again. I was convinced we'd end up "making a mess" somewhere in the mall after all that jumping, but his stomach is stronger than I expected.

J got along quite well with his cousins Shelby and Harley.

My Sister and her Family

J-Man's Birthday

Hard to believe our little man is four years old. He still loves

all things Thomas, so we indulged him a little :) on the cake! His

friends Ben and Michael came over for pizza and cake.

Grandma and Grandpa were here, too!

Dog Bite

I originally posted these pics so Scott could see them at work. They have, however, generated a little interest....imagine that! Evie crawled up behind Bear who was sitting at the sliding glass door. I didn't see what she did, but we can all see what he did! Bear is currently at the Humane Society, where he will be monitored for 10 days and then placed in the adoption pool to get a new home. Just as an FYI, he will be kept until he is adopted! :) We are sad to see him go, but we can't have any biting dogs in a home with children. As Scott said, had he bitten her hand he would probably still be here. He got her across the face. It's hard to see, but there is a small bite mark under her right eye and there are a couple of scratches across her nose. Obviously, her left check took most of the impact. In true Evie fashion, she was over it in about 30 seconds and I'm not exaggerating.

Cold Afternoon at the Zoo

Julie and I took the boys to the zoo for a couple of hours. Brr.....too chilly!

Time for a Haircut

E played while J got a much-needed haircut!

If Renae had seen him, she'd have had a fit about my little hippie-wanna-be!

Happy Halloween!

J-Man was an engineer again this year.

Little E wore J's first costume---the giraffe!

Too cute.

Daddy's New Toy

My sweet husband's latest toy! How's that saying go?

You can take the boy out of the country...!

Check out that stylin' camo!

Apple Butter Festival

We took a trip into the country and visited the Apple Butter Festival.

The family shared a bag of yummy kettle corn----even little E had some!

On the way home we stopped at the Longaberger factory and saw the world's largest apple basket.

Zoo with Friends

It was almost a perfect afternoon at the zoo. There were only a couple of downsides.....it was around 38 degrees and Jared was wet from jumping in puddles. He claimed he wasn't cold, but how could he not be! :) E was sufficiently bundled up and seemed to have fun, too.

Left to right: Michael, Ben & Jared