Just Like My Daddy

It was career night at AWANA Wednesday night. When I asked Ethan what he wanted to be when he grew up, he answered without hesitation, "I want to be a daddy just like my daddy." I asked him what kind of job he wanted to do and he said, "Uh, Mom, sell cars!" As if I would dare even ask him that question when he just knew that I already knew the answer! There is such a stereotype with used car salesman, but I would be so proud of either of my children if they followed in Chris' footsteps. He's got the best work ethic of anyone that I know and has provided such a wonderful life for our family. Often times I wish that he were home more, but I have to remind myself that he is out there working so hard for us. Anyway, it was a proud moment for both Chris and I. Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely adore my children? Oh, and that used car salesman is not bad either.

Halloween Carnival

Ethan's school Halloween Carnival was on Wednesday. Emerson and I volunteered to help with the games while the two and three year olds came through. The kids had a lot of fun dressing up and seeing what one another was going to be. Emerson stayed right with me as long as she had a lollipop. I think she had three in total...back to back! That is a HUGE no-no in our house! They had fun and that's all that mattered!

Fall Marathon Day

Yesterday was Ethan's last soccer game of the season. He played great and they were all given a trophy, which he has been looking forward to since his first game! After soccer, we were able to make it to the end of the pumpkin party at the library. The children played a few games, painted a pumpkin, got their face painted and a few other fun fall activities. Our day was not over yet! We headed on over to the Chevy to the Levee after the library. Everything was close to shutting down, but we were able to take a hay ride with some friends. It was a busy day to say the least. We came home just in time for Emerson's nap, so Ethan and Grammy were able to spend some alone time together. She brought a bunch of outdoor Halloween decorations for them to put outside together. Ethan was in his element! Once again, some of my friends forgot their cameras, so there are lots of pictures in the web album. I really need a new camera...especially since I am now the community photographer! It's really just another excuse to get a new one since I have wanted one for years now!

Preschool Pumpkin Patch

Ethan's class visited the pumpkin patch on Friday. They enjoyed painting a pumpkin, playing games, a hay ride and a corn maze. Ethan did a lot of running around playing with his friends and lots of hand holding with Anna! She did not want to let him go all morning! I better watch them! Lots of pictures are in the album as a few of my friends forgot their camera and asked me to take pictures of their children.

Hand Holding

I sure wish she would let me hold her hand...

No way!
Please???

Then I'll just sit closer!

GO NAVY

Memphis

The kids and I flew to Memphis to see my sister and family last Saturday. Wow! What a trip! Both kids did extremely well on all of the airplanes. I could not have asked for better behavior, actually! They were so excited to see their cousins and the feelings were definitely mutual! Here is a run down on our week.

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On Sunday we celebrated my sweet Logan's 7th birthday. He had a few friends over and they played outside and the Wii most of the afternoon. It was very relaxing. I was so happy to have all of us together for our first birthday party since Ethan's first one!

Uncle Chris was off on Monday, so we were all able to visit the Memphis Zoo together. That was a beautiful zoo. We thought it was going to rain, but it turned out to be a perfect day for the zoo.

Tuesday was spent at the Children's Museum of Memphis. I have never seen such a Children's Museum quite like that one. It had an actual Fed Ex cockpit suspended in the air! It also had real fire engines, police cars, police motorcycles and a van for the kids to climb through. The Kroger "grocery store" was as large as a convenience store with actual scanning cash registers. They even showed the item and it's price! They also had an enormous hamster cage for the kids to climb up, a working bank, a "be on TV area" and a movie theater. Unbelievable! Okay...moving on!

We didn't do much of anything on Wednesday. We went over to see Chris' work on base and to the Exchange. Then we went out to dinner. The kids just really enjoy being together, so they pretty much played ALL day long! I am so glad that there were not any fights or problems between them what-so-ever! They just mesh perfectly!

We did a lot of sight seeing on Thursday. We went to The Peabody Hotel, the site where Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, Beale Street, Fire Museum of Memphis and Crystal Shrine Grotto. We even saw a "film crew" filming someone walking down the streets of downtown Memphis. I took a few pictures in case he was someone famous! The grotto was handmade and was amazing. The pictures do not do it justice. Chris and Amy went to see Casting Crowns that evening, so I had all five kids alone! Again, they are all the best of friends, so it was very easy. Chris and Amy really enjoyed their concert and time together. I am glad that I was able to let them out for a night since they don't know many people yet.

Friday was another realxing day of play for the kids. We did go out that evening to the Zoo Boo at the Memphis Zoo. They really did that place up! It was really cold, so all of the kids wore several layers of pj's underneath. My sister took more photos than I did that evening, so I'll try to get those.

The kids and I were very excited to see Chris on Saturday and they once again did great on the planes. Chris was VERY excited to see his babies and we are so glad to be home!

I am so happy and blessed to have such a great family. Chris and Amy were beyond hospitable! Amy cooked delicious meals most evenings, so I even came away with several new recipes! We can't wait to go back!

Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again! I have been holding on to summer as long as possible, but the inevitable has arrived! We took the kids to the pumpkin patch a few weeks back, but I have been too busy to blog. Here are some pictures of our afternoon.

Flu

As you all know, the flu is horrible this year. On Tuesday, I took Emerson to get tested by her allergist to see if she could handle the flu shot (it contains eggs and she is allergic). She had several series of shots (which she did wonderfully with) and was able to get half of it. We will return in a month for the last installment. I brought Ethan with me to see if I could get his there as well since I despise going to the Children's Clinic. Love the staff, hate the wait and germs! They did not want to give it to him as he had a very low fever. That afternoon I found out that at least half of his class was out because of the flu and various other illnesses. Monday night it developed into a mild fever. I kept him out on Tuesday and watched it. That afternoon it spiked to 103.1. We had tried to take him to the clinic in the morning, but they stopped taking walk-ins at 9:00. We ended up taking him to after hours care and found out that he did indeed have the flu. He has behaved unbelievably for having felt so bad. We are truly blessed to have kids with great dispositions (well, Emerson has her moments...so does Ethan for that matter, but you see where I'm going with this!). He is doing much better now. I took Emerson last night to the clinic because she started running a fever, but hers is just a sinus infection. Chris has a bit of a cold and my allergies are kicking in, but other than that, we're good so far. I pray that it stays that way as we are flying out in a week! Here are some pictures of them on Wednesday. As you can tell, it doesn't appear that they have NOT been enjoying being quarantined for 7 days!

This is what quiet looks like in our house:

Family Day

Ethan had Family Fun Day at school a few weeks ago and I forgot to blog about it. They all had to bring in a sample of their favorite snack and explain why it was their favorite. They worked on projects all week at school and each family had to make a "foot family" picture. Here are some shots of his projects.

Let me explain these two. I think I have mentioned before that we do the "tickle game" each night before bed. There is usually not much tickling involved, however, Ethan still refers to it as The Tickle Game. It mostly consists of Chris standing on one side of the bed while I stand on the other. The kids run between us as we throw them on the bed, etc. That should explain the following pictures.