Rainbow

Earlier this week we went for a bike ride after dinner. The weather was nice and crisp, the perfect evening for a bike ride. On our way home it started to sprinkle. As we neared our house, I looked up and saw the most beautiful rainbows! The main one is darker, but there was a very light one above it.

It was a full rainbow from one end to the other. Blake was so excited to see such a beautiful rainbow.

We pulled into the driveway and got off our bikes to admire God's beautiful creation.

If you look closely you can see it coming up from the top of the tree.

Barry Blue Eyes

When we saw that Barrett's blue eyes were going to stay blue... we started calling him Barry Blue Eyes. You cannot see how pretty and blue they are in pictures because he ALWAYS has red eye! Red eye removal is a great tool but the pictures still lack the pretty blue.

His eyes looked so pretty with his blue shirt this week!

So many people comment Barrett on his pretty blue eyes, that now Blake wishes his eyes were blue like Barrett's. I assure him that Mommy loves his brown eyes since they look just like hers and Gram's. This does little to comfort him since both Daddy and Barrett have blue eyes! It is not fun to match the girls, according to Blake!

Our sweet Barrett! Blake was standing behind me making faces at him to get this good smile :)

Fall Football

This weekend we enjoyed some fall football! We started the weekend off with high school football Friday night. Since the game didn't start until later... Barrett got to stay with Gram and Papa and go to bed on time. We dropped him off on our way to the game.

We then headed to the "big game" as Blake called it.

We got our seats, got all settled in, and cheered on our team.

Blake had such a good time sitting with the big boys, cheering for his team, and eating popcorn... which is when our evening went downhill. Blake was eating his popcorn so fast that he choked, and then started throwing up all in the stands. Anyone who knows our boys knows they have a very sensitive gag reflex. Once he started choking and gagging it wouldn't stop. He threw up all in the bleachers. I felt so sorry for everyone sitting around us. Thanks to Aunt Mantha for helping to clean it up and Auntie's help for trying to find someone to come disinfect it. We got it all cleaned up and headed home to wash our clothes... all before half time.

Saturday night we went over to Mom and Dad's for some college football. We wore our blue and orange as we cheered on the Florida Gators.

The Gators beat the Kentucky Wildcats 41-7.

The game was over a little after bedtime, so we quickly headed home to put two sleepy little boys and one sleepy big boy to bed.

Muffin Morning

The boys and I love our muffin mornings. We can all three eat a lot of muffins! I always have a lot of help making our muffins... and we always sing Do You Know the Muffin Man while we cook.

We had cinnamon muffins this morning. Blake loves to sprinkle the cinnamon on top.

After our muffin breakfast, we went outside to enjoy the beautiful morning!

We are welcoming the cooler weather of autumn with open arms!!

Support Your High School

Blake had his first "theme" day at school. The kids were supposed to wear colors to support their high school. Blake is wearing his orange, black, and white proudly!

Hello Autumn

We are bidding summer farewell and welcoming Autumn! One of our favorite times of the year! I love the smells, sights, and sounds of this cozy season! The State Fair, football games, pumpkin patches, and yummy Thanksgiving food!

Goodbye summer clothes and hot temperatures! Hello Autumn and everything wonderful you bring!

Special Package

I received a package in the mail the other day from Kacey. She had turned our wedding napkin into a beautiful keepsake plate. It is beautiful and so special to get the year of our 10th year wedding anniversary!

Click to enlarge

Play Date Pictures

This afternoon the Baker girls came to play. We weren't planning on taking any pictures... but when all four kids sat on the fire place (by their choice!) all in a row, I couldn't resist. By the time I got my camera the little ones were already up and on the move. I was able to get a picture of these sweet friends together though.

Later Lydia and Barrett were looking out the door together so sweetly. I grabbed my camera to try and catch a picture of them.

We had given up on the play date pictures because it was too hard to get all four to sit still and smile... but we ended up getting a couple of sweet ones anyway!

Magna Doodle Fun

Blake was drawing on his Magna Doodle Sunday after church. He was just over at the desk working on it for a minute when he was already calling me to come look at his drawing. He explained his picture to me... which I could easily see the moment I looked at it!

It is a picture of Barrett imagining that he is a puppy.

Blake has never been one who likes to sit and write or draw. I was impressed with his creativity on this one!

These Boots Are Made For Walking

Barrett loves wearing shoes! He will find any shoes around the house and put them on. Here are some pictures I took this week of some of the styles he was sporting.

Here's one foot, here are two,

Each one wearing a brand new shoe,

So skip and dance all around the floor,

That's what these new shoes are for.

8 Years

8 years ago I made my first trip to the beautiful state of Kentucky. We were headed to attend the wedding of Robert's cousin James. It was only 4 days after September 11th happened. We were a little nervous about driving across the US during this unstable time. Along the drive we saw American flags hung everywhere. They were flying from cars and trucks and hanging from overpasses. We were in Kentucky for just the weekend. In that short amount of time, I was introduced to a part of Robert's family I had not met before. We all instantly bonded and I treasure the relationships and friendships we all share.

Robert and I look forward to our annual Kentucky trip each year to make new memories and spend time with his family (and all the extended families we have grown to love)!

What Do I Love...

about Tuesday and Thursday each week??

That this is what I see in my rear view mirror! Now that Blake is in preschool he rides with me to town each week. We have a 30 minute drive each way. We get to talk in the car on the way and pray together before I drop him off. I drop him off at his Auntie's house before school. She takes him to school and picks him up for me. She drops him back off to me at my school as I am dismissing my students. He plays in my classroom as I finish up my work for the day. Then we head back home together. We enjoy talking about his day on our way home... until he falls asleep from being exhausted from his busy day at school. Our new routine has worked out great! I have enjoyed my extra time with him each Tuesday and Thursday! Thank you Auntie for helping to make his preschool year possible!

Rolling Fun

Blake and I were looking for something different to do around the house the other day. I was looking in his closet for any toys we hadn't played with in a while. I came across a tub of "tinker toy" type things he got for his birthday one year. He hasn't really been old enough to enjoy them when we have tried to build something before, so I thought we would give them another try. I am glad we did because he loved them!

He wanted us to build the race car so that is what we set out to build. We followed the 15 steps in the directions booklet and used about 50 pieces to build it.

Blake was proud of the finished product!

Children's Choir

Tonight at church was Blake's first night of Children's Choir for the new school year. He loved choir last year and if tonight is any indicator... he will love it again this year!

Feeding & Flower Rose

Barrett is getting very good at feeding himself with a spoon. If it is something thick he does very well. If it is thin like his baby yogurt... you end up with a mess like this.

Flower Rose has been spending the night on our porch but then leaving again mid-morning. She was still here this morning after Barrett finished his breakfast. He had fun standing at the door looking at her and saying "puppy, puppy" over and over.

We are still working on the fact that she is a kitty and not a puppy.

Hopefully soon he will catch on to calling her a kitty.

Until then he will bang on the window and yell, "Puppy"!

Flower Rose

The other night we went on a bike ride. There was a little cat sitting in the driveway of a house down the road. Blake wanted to stop and look at her so we did. She came running over to him when he stopped. She was rubbing all over him and he was petting her. He was not at all ready to leave her. She ended up following us back down the road a little bit. She wouldn't follow us all the way to our house, but she came close. Blake sat in the road and played with her forever. When we told him it was time to come inside he started crying. He loved his new "kitty friend" and he told us several times that she loves him too. He cried all the way through his bath and as we put him to bed. He was crying and saying in his crying voice, "what am I going to do about this kitty?" "what would you do if you wanted a kitty and your mom and dad wouldn't let you have one?" We heard this over and over as he cried. We put him to bed with hopes that he would forget about her... Ha ha for us! That was the first thing he asked about when he woke up. He wanted to go back and try to find her. We didn't see her any that day, but that night when Robert went to water the backyard, there she was! She was in our fence and on our back porch. Blake was already in bed but not asleep yet. We went and got him up so he could come see his "kitty friend". He and Daddy went and bought her some food at the store the next day in case she came back to visit. Sure enough at the same time the next night she was back. We fed her and she gobbled it up! She now comes each night at the same time. We feed her and Blake sits on the back porch while he rubs and talks to her.

She is a girl kitty so Blake decided to name her Flower Rose because girls like flowers.

We are going to continue to feed her while we try to figure out if she has a home or not. She might just be our part-time kitty, or maybe even become a member of our family!

Sleep Tight

Nighty night, sleep tight... or not!!

Blake was sound asleep hanging half off his bed!

First Day of School

Today was Blake's first day of preschool. Although he was slow to wake up and get moving, he perked up once we put the backpack on. He was very excited about getting to wear his new backpack!

A side view of him with his backpack on.

I love this picture of Barrett looking up at his big brother.

Yes, I was THAT mom today... the one that took way too many pictures and lingered when I dropped him off. I was not ready to walk out of the building without my little boy! It was a very odd feeling to leave him there. When we pulled up in the parking lot and he saw all of the other boys and girls walking in with their backpacks on, he was very anxious to get his back on.

Blake and his teacher Mrs. Gina.

Pictures with Mommy and Daddy

When Daddy picked him up he had a lot to say! He was so excited about calendar, music, recess, eating out of his lunchbox, and playing with his friends. He liked his first day!