Autumn Adventures

With Billy travelling to Ft. McCoy so much this summer and fall, we decided to take a family vacation over Veteran's Day weekend. We made a quick trip to Nashville, Tennessee and had a GREAT time!! The kids did wonderful on the road trip (Alexa enjoyed a movie marathan on the portable DVD player and Brody slept for much of the trip). Billy and I enjoyed the changing leaves as we drove down the beautiful winding roads.

We stayed just down the road from the Grand Old Opry and its surroundings, so on Saturday, we took Alexa to the Opry Hills Mall where she was thrilled to get to ride another "horse" (she loves carousels). We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a themed restaurant complete with animatronic elephants (which moved and made elephant noises) and man-made rainstorms (lights and thunder only!). She seemed to enjoy it, although she kept a close eye on the elephants! Brody somehow slept through the whole thing. As you can see in the photo below, she liked the Old Navy Dog much better than the elephants (she refused to pose by them).

Sunday we were able to connect with some of my relatives that still live in Nashville! We were able to go to Uncle Bill and Aunt Sue's house that afternoon, and Alexa LOVED running through the leaves in their beautiful yard.

Sunday evening, we met Aunt Thelma for dinner and I think Brody made a new friend!! Great Aunts, like Grandmas and Aunts, seem to enjoy spoiling children! We were immediately served cookies at Aunt Sue's house, and Alexa left Cracker Barrel with a toy suitcase stuffed with candy, thanks to Aunt Thelma! We truly had a wonderful time and have vowed to make more trips to Nashville during our time in Columbia.

After dinner, we went to the Opryland Hotel on the recommendation of all my relatives. It should be called Opry World since there seems to be an entire universe existing beneath their glass roof! We took a boat ride down their river because really, how many times can you get on a boat inside a hotel!?! They took a great famiy shot of us on the boat, so when I finish unpacking and find the photo, I'll scan it in! These photos were also from inside the Opryland Hotel:


Brody will be six months old a week from tomorrow (I can't even believe how quickly the time has gone by!) and he rolls from his stomach to his back constantly (he's mid-roll in this photo). His next check-up is November 27th and I will be sure to post his latest stats after our visit.

Alexa, of course, still keeps us constantly entertained. She has a blanket/stuffed puppy that she has slept with almost every night since she was about 15 months old (see photos below of puppy in 2004 and puppy in 2006). After numerous washings, the thing has lost its eyes and nose and has holes in its arms and ears. Somewhere along the line, Billy and I got into the habit of spelling out P-U-P-P-Y if we were discussing the toy in front of Alexa because we knew the mere mention of its name would cause her to instantly want it. Well, last night while getting her ready for bed, Billy realized it was not in her room and asked me, "Where is her P-U-P-P-Y?" Imagine our shock and surprise when Alexa immediately answered, "It's in your bedroom." Laughing, because our daughter doesn't know how to spell yet, but just gave us the correct answer, we asked her what was in our bedroom. "Puppy," she answered nonchalantly. Kids. You really don't realize how much they pick up on!

Meet Miriam and Moses...

Have you ever tried to dress your child as a bible character on short notice? (Ok, it really shouldn't have been short notice considering her AWANA teachers sent home a note the week before, and oh yeah, I volunteer with AWANA every week...) But despite that, Wednesday October 25th rolled around, and I suddenly remembered that Alexa was supposed to be a Bible character that evening! We flipped through one of her Bible story books and found the story of Miriam and Moses. Alexa loved the story (especially since she was also a big sister) and was particularly excited about the fact that Mommy would let her take a baby doll with her. Baby Moses (who by the way has kept that name since that fateful evening) was easy to costume; it was his big sister who proved problematic. Inspiration finally struck when I remembered I had a wrap skirt, sent from my dear friend in Malaysia, hanging in my closet! A few tugs, ties, and binder clips later (I couldn't find my safety pins), we had a dress! The headpiece was fashioned from a scarf Billy had sent Alexa when he was in Kuwait, and since it was pink, I heard no complaints from my typically opinionated daughter! We found her brown sandals (now only referred to as 'her Miriam shoes') and crisis was averted! It has been two weeks, and not only is her baby still called Moses but he also still resides in the basket, wrapped in his blanket. We also now alternate between requests to be Minnie Mouse and requests to be Miriam. She loves dressing up so much we've debated buying her more costumes, but as it is she changes personas so many times throughout the day, I'm never quite sure who I'm talking to!

Speaking of dressing up, Alexa got plenty of wear out of her Minnie Mouse costume - on October 28th, we went to a Halloween party, on the 30th she wore it for her school's story book dress up parade, and on the 31st we went trick or treating. She did well on Halloween, remembering to be polite and tell everyone thank you...although she did also tell one kind woman who handed her M&Ms that "she liked beans but she didn't like chocolate." (try explaining that one to a complete stranger!)

Since Halloween, we've asked for candy every single day. She understands the concept of no candy until after we eat pretty well, as evidenced this morning when she finished her breakfast and announced, "I ate all my cereal! I so happy, now I can have CANDY!" We're still working on the concept of not being able to eat candy after EVERY meal...

Due to the increase in our sugar intake, brushing our teeth has become an even greater priority. Tonight, she was protesting bedtime and told me she didn't want to brush her teeth. I explained that brushing our teeth keeps them clean and healthy and if we don't take good care of our teeth by brushing them, they could get really yucky and fall out. She apparently took this to heart because when I suggested again that she brush her teeth, I heard no objections, and upon reaching the bathroom, she handed me my toothbrush and asked if I would like to brush my teeth. I explained that I would brush my teeth later, and in horror, she said, "no mommy, you have to brush them now so they don't fall out!"

Other adventures over the past few weeks included visiting the state fair on October 15th. Alexa loved the cotton candy and the carousel - not a shocker considering her infatuation with horses. Brody, as you can see from the photo below, enjoyed his thumb.

On October 27th, Aunt Misty kept the kids while Billy and I attended a Dining Out (formal dinner). Last Saturday, I kept the kids so she and John could attend a dinner. Keeping both the boys at the same time has left both Misty and me in awe of our friends who have twins. The boys were good, but two babies are still two babies!

Add a chatty three-year-old to the mix and you're guaranteed a night to remember!

The boys seem to enjoy being together, or at least Brody does. We'll lay them side by side, and typically, Brody will grin and grab John's hands or clothes, which in turn causes John to cry, which then causes Brody to laugh. (I hope this isn't an indication of their future relationship)

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramblings...and if for some reason I don't make it back to the blog before then, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

A reminder of what is really important...

A real update will be coming soon...hopefully Sunday, with photos and another long winded description of what's been going on the past few weeks (really, where is the time going!?). In the meantime, while looking for something for my mom on the internet, I stumbled across this poem. I felt a sense of 'poetic justice' when I read this, especially since every night, after the kids are in bed and I survey my surroundings - toys covering the living room floor, a 'to file pile' that stands taller than my three year old, and laundry that is threatening to take over my bedroom - I ask myself this very question:

What Did I Do Today?

Today I left some dishes dirty,
The bed got made around 3:30.
The diapers soaked a little longer,
The odor grew a little stronger.
The crumbs I spilled the day before
Are staring at me from the floor.
The fingerprints there on the wall
Will likely be there still next fall.
The dirty streaks on those windowpanes
Will still be there next time it rains.
Shame on you, you sit and say,
Just what did you do today?

I held a baby till he slept,
I held a toddler while she wept.
I played a game of hide and seek,
I squeezed a toy so it would squeak.
I pulled a wagon, sang a song,
Taught a child right from wrong.
What did I do this whole day through?
Not much that shows, I guess that's true.
Unless you think that what I've done,
Might be important to someone
With deep blue eyes and soft blonde hair,
If that is true...I've done my share.