Just Today: November 2011

So my little monsters have been asking since June when fall was going to get here. For most people, it really isn't all that big of a deal, mostly because they get to see it every year. I am not saying that these yearly fall people do not appreciate the beauty associated with the season (as I know for a fact this is false), but I am saying that Fall just is something they except to experience every year...but not so much Kade and Drew. For them, "Fall" was something they only learned about in school. There they read about it in book and were able to see a few photographs. I mean, after all, we lived in Hawaii and Arizona since 2007 (or in other words, since my boys were 2 and 3). And while these states are beautiful in their own right, its just not the same!

But now fall is here (actually, it is just about over)...and they are super excited. They really can't get enough of playing the leaves and they think the colors are absolutely awesome! Unfortunately, we have been crazy busy these last few weeks (what with going to Ohio for a week, and then all of us having to play catch up at school). But this weekend we took a little time to go play outside and take some pictures in the leaves. Mom even helped us out and took a few pictures of the boys and I, so that I could send them to Randy, and then took some pictures of us all with Jordan (yeah for camera timers!!!O So be sure to check out, some of the pictures below and have a great Fall season!!!

My new most favorite picture of the boys and I! Thanks for taking it mom!

Fall is really one of my favorite times of year, and one of the things I missed the most living in Hawai'i the last two years. Luckily for us, Tennessee is a beautiful place to be this time of year, even if the temperature keeps fluctuating between nice fall weather and weather cold enough to make your blood freeze. These last few days have been a whirlwind of fall activities. Saturday we went to Limoland Pumpkin Patch and had a ball. In fact, I would say that it was the best $30 I have spent in a long, long time! Plus, it was totally awesome to just get away from the textbooks for awhile (as I have been playing catch up here lately, from the midterms and time I missed while in Ohio earlier this month.

One of the things I liked the most about the Pumpkin Patch was that they had the pumpkins presorted by size and price, but laid out in such a way as to allow for some pretty cool pictures (like the one right here). Plus, it kept me from having to tromp through an actual pumpkin patch...avoiding any possible encounters with snakes (yes, I know...I am a chicken). The owners also had set up little photo opportunities for their visitors, that where all decked out in different little themes. They even had a Christmas tree all decorated up with Halloween decorations...which, if they had thrown a turkey on top for the star, would have covered all three of my favorite holidays!!!!

Anyways, for $5 you could purchase an arm band and have a load of fun! One of the first things we did was go on a hay ride, and we did that twice! We rode around the property through the cattle pasture in an old cotton hauler, which was pretty cool. The boys had a lot of fun checking out the cows and pointing out ever pile of cow dung they saw. They were kind of grossed out when we drove over a pile, but hey, shit happens. We also were able to go through a corn maze (we did that twice as well), go down one of the coolest slides ever (we did that about 100 times), check out the farm animals, go swimming in corn, and crawl all over the coolest stack of tires. We bought popcorn (twice), took a ride on a little train, and just all around had a blast. Then it was time to grab some Taco Bell and Little Ceasers (we couldn't decide which we wanted more), and home for the night! Check out the rest of the pictures from the Pumpkin Patch below. You should be able to click on them to view them as a larger file.


Which Way Do We Go Man? Which way do we go?

Pa Pa, Kade and Drew's Pumpkins (I carved the boys for them)

Halloween night was blast as well!!! After rushing home from my lab science, with less than an hour until the Halloween festivities began, I find both my boys outside with Pa pa (in their customes)...not doing homework ;-) Kade, of course, managed to leave his homework at school. So that required a quick phone call to his teacher to get his spelling words done. I have never seen him do his spelling words so quickly! I swear, he 33 words in less than 12 minutes. We had a quick bologna sandwich, fed the cats, and were outside taking pictures before 5 o'clock. This year it was kind of cool because Grammy and Pa Pa went with us. This was nice for me, as I actually was able to have adult conversation with someone other than myself as I walked around (although as much as I love Angie and George, it would have been nice to have my George with me)! We hit the town square extravaganza, walked around Pa Pa's friend's neighboorhood, and then hit Trunk-or-Treat at a local church. This was really cool because people decorated their trunks by different themes. There was Toy Story, a Jungle, Mario Land, and even a chance for the kids to play a real-live game of Angry Birds. Oh, and the kids were even given hot-dogs at one station (I figure if you can't eat a hot dog from a church on Halloween b'c its "not sealed" then there are some bigger issues than the hot dog itself). Then it was time to come home, eat some pizza, and do our candy dump. The beset part was, the boys were STILL in bed at their regular bed time, even if it did take them a little longer than normal to get to sleep! The only thing missing was the rest of my family (We miss you Kaylee, Sami, and Daddy).