Kids Fall School Pictures

Here are the kids fall school pictures! Savannah looks like she is on the verge of tears! Let me know if you would like me to email one to you.

Early Birthday Gift

Michael got to open an early birthday gift from Aunt Jill last weekend and it was a hit! Now he gets to shave just like daddy. Thanks Aunt Jill!

Chuck E Cheese

We ventured to Chuck E Cheese for the first time last week! It had been raining for several days with more rain predicted and we thought it might be a fun way to burn some energy before bedtime. Michael had a blast--mostly watching Stephen play the games--and Savannah had fun in the toddler zone. Overall, it was still a little too old for them but they had a good time running around and trying to play the games.

Halloween Fun!

Yesterday was Halloween and it was a beautiful day! We really didn't have any plans, so after naps I dressed Michael up in his Pirate costume (which he picked) and we went out back to play while Savannah was still asleep. He had a blast with his sword!

When Savannah woke up, she put on her Snow White costume and we took some pictures. Stephen had to conduct drill practice with the ROTC students, so we loaded in the car and drove to school to run on the field and give him a chance to see the kids all dressed up.

The costumes didn't last much longer than that! Michael ran around the rest of the day wearing nothing but underpants, a pirate hat and his sword. We didn't trick or treat this year, but will try it next year. Savannah is still too little to understand and Michael is just not interested.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween and is doing well!

USMC Marathon Weekend

Stephen and I traveled to Quantico, VA this weekend for the Marine Corps Marathon and 10K. Stephen and 7 other Marines and ROTC students from U of M ran the Marathon, while myself and 2 other wives ran the 10K. The Marathon was in Washington DC, so Stephen ran past Arlington National Cemetery, the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, and the Pentagon to name a few landmarks. Here are a few pictures from our trip:

On our way down to drop the kids off on Thursday, Savannah was content to hold: Pink Bear, her baby, a giggle-bug toy, a book, and her cup...could anything else fit on her lap? At one point she was even using her foot to help balance it all!

The drive across Tennessee and Virginia was beautiful! The leaves are changing color and it was such a scenic drive (after the rain stopped following us from Memphis!)

Stephen finished the race in 4:20 and felt really good after! My goal was to run the whole 10K (6.2 miles) and I did, finishing in 1:05. We had a great time, but Stephen has decided that this will be his first, last and only Marathon!

What's new

We have had lots going on lately, so I will try to sum it all up in one entry.

First, Michael got a big bed! We found a complete furniture set (with bunk beds) online and went ahead and bought it. Michael had destroyed his little toddler bed and was ready for a STURDY big bed! He loved helping Stephen put it together and was excited about it being in his room, but the first night he woke up crying and asked for his "little bed." He has settled in with it now and seems to be very happy with it.

Savannah has grown! She is still so petite, but she is quickly catching up to Michael. It's hard to realize that she is growing when I am with her everyday, but I noticed this morning that her feet now touch the foot rest on her high chair. Her hair is getting longer and, although she doesn't have Michael's curls, her hair now flips up at her shoulders! It's too cute!

We spent last Saturday at the Fall Harvest Festival at the AgriCenter with our good friends Brian and Cammie and their daughter Brinsley. Michael and Savannah love spending time with Brinsley (who is right between the two of them) and they all had a great time feeding the animals, picking pumpkins, dancing to live bluegrass music, and riding on the tractor-pulled hay rides.

Michael is talking so much more lately. This video was taken just after Michael got caught drinking Dixie's water with a straw! About half way through, he tries to tell me to "shhh, be very very quiet!" while hunting bugs! It's kind of hard to hear, so you may have to turn the volume up.

Get down and boogie

We watch morning cartoons on the Disney Channel and one of our all-time favorite shows is a short, two minute filler in between shows called Choo Choo Soul. It involves an animated train and a singer and the kids LOVE it. They dance and sing (and learn how to moo like a cow, count, sing abc's...) I caught them this morning right as it was coming on and got their dancing on video. Savannah is just figuring out how to dance and Michael may have a future in break-dancing!

Splish Splash Splosh

Yesterday it poured all day. Lucky for me it was a Tuesday and the kiddos were at Mother's Day Out! When Stephen got home, he took Michael out to play in the rain. This is funny because Michael usually hates getting rained on and it is really coming down and he doesn't seem to care at all!

Where does he get this stuff?!

Alright, so we have always known that Michael is ham, but as he gets older and his speech develops he is continually coming up with "catch phrases" that crack us up. Right now, the most popular are:

1. "It's dark and spooky!" usually referring to the bathroom or his bedroom without the light on.

2. "That so silly!" with his head tilted to the side and an eye roll.

3. "You okay, mommy?" I have been sick and coughing a lot and every time I cough he asks me this. I answer "yes, I'm okay" and the other day he responded with...

4. "I'm glad!" said matter of factly.

5. "Too par away" (yes par, not far) and "Me too big" usually in conjunction with each other.

6. "What dat noooise?" Very drawn out and asked repeatedly, over and over, and over, and over...

and finally, the new favorite

7. "Sorry bout dat!" which is actually really sweet and usually follows crashing into you or stepping on your foot.

In other news, Stephen has waged a war against Red Bird (the cardinal that sits on his rear view mirror and pecks at his reflection and simultaneously poops on his door.) He has borrowed a pellet gun and a bebe gun to attempt to either kill or convince the bird to move on. Here are some pictures of Michael helping daddy take target practice in the back yard. I particularly like the one with his eyes closed!

Apparently church is VERY tiring! Savannah barely made it into the house before she crashed on the floor.

Hopper Frog

After his nap today, Michael was outside digging in the dirt under the jungle gym when suddenly he came tearing into the house screaming! I quickly determined that he wasn't hurt and began the process of elimination to figure out what he was so worked up about-something bit him, a spider, Dixie did something, a bug..."no, no, no." Finally I got something about a hopper, which is usually a cricket or grasshopper. He took me to the climbing wall ladder and pointed to a little frog-hopper frog! Apparently it was taking a break in the cool shade and dirt when Michael disturbed his peace, tried to hop to his escape, and scared Michael. We sat for a while talking to Hopper Frog and Michael finally decided that Hopper needed our help to get back to a tree. Here are some videos of Michael talking about Hopper (it is kind of hard to hear sometimes because our AC is running in the background.)