Halloween Party

Playing Hot Pumpkin

Playing pin the nose on the pumpkin

Witches' brew Search- He had to stick his hand in the brew to find a prize

Landon wanted the cat on the other side of the fence

Lofton found a pumpkin!

The Caterpillars

Landon playing on the playground

It'd be easier to guess who if it didn't say, "My favorite food is BOLOGNA." Seriously? You have to taste it to acknowledge it as a fave.

Decorating his pumpkin

Carving our Pumpkin

Lofton and Phillip carved our pumpkin Thursday night. Of course, we cheated and used the carving patterns. Lofton really had fun, but when he saw what I was doing, he took a break from carving. He saw that I was making "eyeballs" for his class party, which consisted of pudding, lifesaver gummies, and jelly beans. Once he saw the Life Saver gummies, he decided that helping me was more fun. He and Landon both helped me for awhile, but then they went back to the carving.

We unfortunately haven't put a light in the pumpkin yet because we had a little emergency after our carving. Landon pulled a pot of hot soup over on him, and we spent the next two hours desperately trying to soothe his pain. Luckily, he slept through the night, and he hasn't mentioned his back once today. We are so blessed and fortunate. God is good!

Trunk or Treat

Here are some pics of this year's trunk or treat at church. Thanks, Jordan and all who organized all the fun for the kids. The kids had a great time. As we were leaving Lofton said, "That was an awesome party!"

Falling Into Fun

October hasn't been as warm as Farmer's Almanac predicted, but lately, we have had a couple of great fall days. Sunday, we raked leaves, and the boys had a great time jumping in what little bit there were. After all the leaf raking, Landon and Phillip played baseball, and then Lofton, Austin, Phillip, and Presley put Lofton's new football helmet (which is part of his Halloween costume) to use while they played a game of football.

Then today, Ella and Jude came over to play. We were having a snack on the deck when Landon told Ella that he wanted to sit in her lap. They looked so cute that I had to grab my camera, which led to some great pics. I hope that this weather will last awhile longer!

Landon is 2 and 1/2

Landon turned 30 months (2 and 1/2) on Sunday; it is unreal how quickly time flies. He is a wonderful little boy.
~ Landon loves to sing! His favorite song is "Ain't No Mountain High Enough!" Some of his other faves are "The Hokey Pokey", "Old MacDonald", "Bingo", "Hippopotamus Song", "Jesus's Love is Bubblin' Over"
~ Landon adores Lofton. It does my heart good when I hear Landon say, "My Lofton"
~He says the sweetest prayers.
~He can count to 20 but refuses to learn his colors.
~Landon is working on Potty Training; he will do about anything for M&Ms. He, however, won't potty anywhere but home; it is creating a problem.
~ Landon also adores Ella. She really pays attention to him.
~He really loves The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins.
~He loves to fish and golf, and he is rather good at about any sport; he can hit a softball about everytime we pitch it to him.
~Landon loves books. He loves any kinds of books with flaps.
~Landon is our little Linus; he always has to have his blanket at bed time or nap time, and he is particular about his blankets; he has two favorites- both Gymboree blankets.
~Landon loves to cuddle in the mornings; I love to sit in bed with him while he drinks his favorite, chocolate milk, and watch his shows.
~He normally always asks before he does something; today, he asked me for an Oreo, and when I said no, he surprisingly didn't argue. When I came out of my room a few minutes later, I found out why... His Lofton had gotten him one!
~He is still a picky eater; I hope like Lofton, that he will outgrow this phase.
~When it comes to candy, he is not picky at all.
~He really likes school. He talks about Ms. Jo Jo at home, and he tells me often that "Jo Jo says."
~He adores his grandparents. He talks about them often and prays for them every night. His big thing now is that Pop Pop is the Big Bad Wolf, and he can't seem to forget that Nana made him put on his socks the other night when she kept them, but he doesn't realize that I had laid them out for her. He loves to play with Mimi because she likes to play Diego he says, and his grandfather has a cool motorcycle, which he is afraid of.
~ He is growing up before our eyes!~

Orange Beach in October

We went to Orange Beach, Alabama for fall break. I wasn't sure how I'd like the beach in October, but everything about it was great. The weather was perfect; it rained one evening, but every day was 80 degrees plus, but it never felt sweltering. I also loved the fact that it wasn't crowded. We never had to wait too long for dinner. We also went with the Griffins, and it made the trip a lot of fun. The boys loved playing with Ella and Jude, and I loved relaxing in my chair talking to Amy while they played. Here are some pictures from our week.

One of the three rainbows we saw on our way there; apparently, we drove through several tornado watches.

Day one of the boys on the beach!



Dinner with the Griffins at LuLu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister's restaraunt)



LuLu's had a huge sandbox for the "kids" to play in. Our kids with the help of Phillip dug a bigger hole than another group of kids. In one of these pictures, you can see Ella, Jude, and Lofton looking over at the other hole to see how they were doing.


Leaving Lulu's

Hitting Bruster's for icecream- Landon couldn't wait to get his M&M icecream. He dropped it with the help of me, and I gave him what was left of Lofton's which wasn't much. Apparently, Landon didn't get his fill because on the way back to the condo, he kept saying, "Someone ate my icecream."


Everyone loved playing on the beach. Landon loved playing with "his Ella", and the boys loved "surfing" as they called it. Landon loved the fact that Ella let him bury her in the sand. Amy said that Lofton reminded her of Scuba Steve with his goggles. Landon also enjoyed resting under his "tent."











Enjoying the pool, which was their favorite part.




Pics from our dinner at Lambert's- aka the roll throwing place. Everytime they came out with fresh rolls, Lofton would raise his hand; he loved to catch them, but he also loved putting honey on them.


My boys looking for crabs and shells. They found four crabs one morning, and Lofton even took them back to our room so we could show them to Jude and Ella.







Lofton holding a lizard that he caught!

Ella holding one of Lofton's crab friends. If you look hard enough you can see it.

I looked out in the ocean one day to see Lofton holding on for dear life to Phillip; I zoomed in with my camera to capture the moment, and I got some pictures of him running back to tell me what had upset him so much! I felt sorry for him being so scared, but since I knew he wasn't hurt, I couldn't resist capturing the moment.



Here is what he was so upset about... Stingrays! There were three or four circling them in the water, and the stingrays stuck around for atleast a half an hour. We watched them swimming in the surf- from the shore that is.

Ella bravely wanted to go see them herself, but she did it safely from Jonathan's shoulders.

On our last night, we went for seafood. At the restaraunt, Lofton and Phillip posed by an alligator for a picture.

Landon wouldn't pose by the alligator, so he found a horse for a photo op.


We went to play Landon's favorite- putt putt. Close to the course, there was a fence to protect players from alligators...

... and huge crawdads!

Obviously the fence it just there to make everyone feel better because it isn't keeping out alligators; it looks as if they have found their own way in.

Lofton driving the go carts by himself.



Landon really wanted to, but he is too small, so he chose to ride this boat ride. The attendant thought he'd be afraid, so he made me ride too.


We saw another rainbow as we were leaving our condo to head back to Tennessee, but before heading back we took a family picture.