Marveling Marbles

We love Marbles Children's Museum! We spent the morning there today as a family and had the best time. The giant Pirate Ship, the lego land, all the hands-on building, Mr. Potato Head exhibit, imaginary play galore... it is a perfect fit for our little man!

My Pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch

Fall Fun with Family and Friends on the Farm

Sack races, three-legged races, painting pumpkins, face painting, HAY RIDE, s'mores, yummy food, laughter and kids running everywhere ... all with wonderful friends. This is easily one of our favorite times of the year!!

Just a few recent pics. (Because Mimi goes through withdrawl when I go a whole week without a new post) :)

Movie, popcorn, and snugglin' with daddy - almost as good as it gets!

Sibling Snuggles

"I love yard sales!"

We've recently helped Mike's mom with two different yard sales. Jackson loves them and asked me today when we can have the next one. At first this puzzled me... why does he love them so much?? Then I realized...he equates yard sales to getting stuff from grandma. You see, grandma's house used to be filled with EVERYTHING from daddy's childhood... star wars stuff, cowboy stuff, action figures, hotwheels, books, etc etc. Not to mention that she is a retired teacher from many years of teaching and has a wealth of children's books and movies. Every time we go there Mike and Jackson come home with an old treasure for Daddy and new treasure for Jack. As her house empties, ours is filling up.... But that's another story.

This past weekend, we toted home a large bin of children's books, including several read-along books with tapes. I had to introduce him to a cassette tape and how it works. He loves listening to these!

Mike also brought home "The Uncle Wiggily Game". The object of this very old game (copyright 1967) is to help Uncle Wiggily Longears get to Dr. Possum's house so he can be cured of his rheumatism. No joke! It cracks me up! First one to Dr. Possum wins. On the way he has many adventures as he hops through the forest - similar to Candyland. Jackson loves playing this game, although much of the language is way over his head.

changing every day

Yesterday was a big day for our little girl. First, she rolled over twice from her belly to her back. I tried to get in on camera without success since Mike was not yet home. Jackson and I cheered her on! Then, after Mike arrived she rolled from her back to her belly!

As if that were not enough, she got to experience her first tastes of real "food" - rice cereal. She did really well and ate the whole portion. Although her favorite part is chewing on the spoon itself. The joys of teething.

Knoxville & Dollywood

Last weekend we went to TN to visit Mimi and Granddaddy Pete and introduce Hannah to all our family there. It was a great trip and she did fairly well for long drive there and back. We had not been there since last Christmas, because of the pregnancy and then arrival of our little girl.

On Thursday Mimi and Granddaddy treated us to Calhouns, an East Tennessee favorite. Aunt Kaye and Toni met us there and we had a great meal and great time together.

On Friday we went to Dollywood. Mimi and Granddaddy are season ticket holders and had free passes for us to use. I haven't been there in years - and boy, had it changed! Jackson was beside himself with excitement for the rides - bumper cars, Ferris wheel, child roller coaster, teacups, flying elephant, a real steam locomotive, scrambler, water rapids, and much much more. He did it all. He was one squeally, happy little boy! Funny thing - I ran into Michelle and Dawn, friends from App there. Small world! By mid-afternoon the heat had really turned up and we had two exhausted kiddos.

Saturday was dedicated to football watching, which is a very sacred thing in TN. They are serious about their football and there is hardly a car in town that is not covered with Big T magnets, pompoms, or orange somewhere. Mom and I escaped for a brief shopping venture before the big game. We debated going to the game but it poured down rain all day so we settled for watching it at home instead. It was fun to show Jack all the little traditions - like the team running through the big T, singing Rocky Top, Smoky, etc. Here's Hannah with her great Aunt Kaye watching the game...

Sunday we went to church at my parent's church. It is always refreshing and odd to be in a church other than the Bridge. It's fun to just be a participant in some ways. Their church is a bit more traditional and has like 5,000 or so members and a choir. Very different. We really missed our church family and worshipping with them!! After church we had lunch and packed up for the drive home. Sad! We had such a great time and love spending time with our family there.

4 months - revised

Edited to add her 4 month digits - 14lbs 5 oz and 25" (75th percentile).

Our little princess is four months old! This past month has been so fun as we've watched her little personality emerge more and more. She is curious about everything. She generally only wants to be held facing out so she doesn't miss anything. She is laughing more and more - especially when you tickle her feet. Hannah is grabbing at anything she can get her hands on and is starting to "play" with toys - mostly just putting anything she can in her mouth. She especially loves her taggy (thanks, Anna!) and her play gym. She has discovered Daisy (our cat) and she is mesmerized by her. Her hair is really starting to come back in. It is such a light blonde that it is hard to see - in most of her pictures she still looks like a baldy.

Our little compliant one is now starting to exert her opinion more and more. :) Last week the teething began and I can tell already that it will be a long, difficult road ahead for that!

She still sleeps great at night. Her daytime naps are not as long as I hoped for (45-60 min.), or as long as Jackson's were. Hopefully those will get longer with time.

Hannah and Jackson have this little squeally babbling language that they share. I have not yet captured it on video, but I hope to soon. It is so funny and sweet! Jackson told her the other day that she was his best friend. Yes, I [courtney] cried! I pray that they will always be close.

It has been four of the most wonderful months for our family. Hannah, you bring us so much joy! We love you, pumpkin!

little learner

Jackson surprises me more and more everyday. Last week I decided to show him some sight words and expose him to some reading. As I was writing down the words from a website, he looked over my shoulder and read most of the words to me before I ever showed them to him! The ones he did not already know he sounded out and read as well. Then, he asked for the stack and began to make silly sentences to read to me..."Little blue dog can jump not run" etc, etc. I sat there baffled. We have been playing word games with bath letters, rhyming sounds, and tons of library books. Not to mention his love for starfall.com and some other educational sites. But, I had no idea he could already read so much!