My Little Buttercup

So... I have this little song I like to sing to Hannah. It guarantees a HUGE grin and laughter every time. The song is "My Little Buttercup" from the movie The Three Amigos (click HERE to see the clip from the movie - hilarious!!). However, my version simply involves bouncing her up and down in front of a mirror, not the shimmies and flare of Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short.

I pondered posting a video of me singing it to her and her ADORABLE response... but that would subject you (and the world) to my voice. Not a chance!

5 Months

Hannah Elyse is 5 months old today. I love to watch the bazillion changes that occur with every month that goes by. This past month we saw her mastering hand dexterity - she is grabbing at everything. The latest is that she loves to pull her socks halfway off and suck on them. (Ugh.) She has rolled a few times, and she can scoot a little while on her back. She is always curious of her surroundings and almost always wants to be held facing out so that she doesn't miss a thing. Hannah continues to babble away and Jackson has learned how to mimic it perfectly... resulting in some hilarious "conversations" between the two of them. This past month she really discovered Daisy - laughing and smiling everytime she came near. Daisy seems pretty enamored with her too...I know that will change once Hannah gets a fist full of her hair! Hannah loves eating the grain cereals now. And, she loves the thumb! She prefers sucking the left thumb while holding her nose. So cute!

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.