First Haircut

Gray got his first haircut yesterday.  The front was getting just a little too long and really starting to bother him when it got in his eyes.

I never would have given Carter his first trim but Gray is our third so I did it myself!  Goldfish aided in distracting Gray ...

He has some crazy length on the top!!!

Gray squirmed and fought me but I got in a few snips and that's all I needed.  It looks much better!!!

Hot Air Balloons

More pictures to come soon of Carter's birthday party at The Art Attic, but here are the boys with their masterpieces!

Basketball Season

Now that baseball and soccer are over, it's time for new winter sports!

Carter is playing basketball and indoor soccer.  Brian is an assistant coach this season for basketball (it's not Brian's favorite sport to coach and with our rough season last year, we decided to just throw Carter into the system and hope he got a strong team and coach).  Brian is going to head coach indoor soccer (a new sport for Carter - he's finally old enough for the league that plays at Crockett).

Rylan could technically play basketball but with his personality and how competitive basketball is in our league, we decided to save a little of our sanity and not sign him up yet.  He has asked to try tennis so I'm hoping to sign him up for group lessons if they have some that start in the next month or two at the indoor courts of WCPR.

Grayson is a little harder to manage at basketball practice this year.  Last year I just had to protect the infant carrier from flying balls.  Now I have to protect a very mobile kid that wants to be on the court!  He loves balls right now and wants to play with the big kids!

It's amazing how even with kid #3, when they do something new, you still think they are the smartest kid ever :)  Whenever we have a soccer ball out, Grayson tends to kick it around instead of picking it up and throwing it.  He's a genius and is going to be an awesome soccer player!!!  Just kidding ;)  But we are impressed!

Blowing Out the Candle

I have lots to share about Grayson's 1st birthday, but I just had to go ahead and post this cute picture of me and my boys ...

Girls Night

I hadn't hosted a girl's night in awhile but really didn't want the pressure of getting the house all picked up and clean (I'm trying to keep up but little man is HARD right now).

So I organized a girl's night at The Art Attic last Wednesday.  The Art Attic is an art studio in downtown Franklin.  The boys painted there this summer once and Carter had his birthday party there this weekend.

Ashley's birthday was a couple of days earlier so I made cupcakes.  This was my first try at using candy melts to make cupcake toppers.  They aren't perfect but everyone acted like they were impressed :)

I sent Brian this picture midway through the evening when I was checking in on him and the boys ...

Unfortunately we didn't get a group shot of all the ladies and our paintings at the end of the night but everyone's painting turned out great.  Here is my finished church ...

Another Artist

We have another kiddo that loves art!  Rylan's coloring and drawing have improved a lot over the last few months.  Here are some free-hand drawings he brought home from school recently.  I LOVE the owl!

A bat and possum ...

Talented

Now this takes some talent!

And a pair of earplugs would be nice for me :)

Sam Davis Home Field Trip

Carter's fall field trip was to the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna.  My mom was visiting then so I was able to leave Gray with her and chaperone the field trip.

Sam Davis was a soldier who died in the Civil War, and the home he grew up in has been preserved.  The people that run the property did a great job of mixing in fun fall activities for the kids with the history of the Civil War and Sam Davis.  There were six activities and each first grade class would be at one of them during each time block.  Carter's class did a hay ride to the cotton field first, a tour of the home, a tour of the museum, a lesson about toys the children played with in the mid-1800s, an interactive storytime by the creek telling "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and pumpkin decorating last after picking out a pumpkin from the patch.

There were enough chaperones in Carter's class that we each had our kid and one friend to keep track of.  Carter's buddy was Conner.

Conner, Carter, and Pierce on the hayride ...

We stopped in the cotton field and the kids each got to pick one piece of cotton.

Carter's class on the steps of the house ...

The boys seemed to have become great friends in this class (Judah, Daniel, Carter, Pierce, and Conner) ...

We had great weather for the field trip and enjoyed the beautiful property.  The pumpkin patch was next to this old barn ...

Carter was very picky and found a perfect pumpkin ...

Then decorated it ...

Carter really enjoyed the field trip and I was really excited I was able to go.  He even painted a huge painting all about the field trip.  My "favorite" part is the upper left insert.  During the museum tour, the kids got to watch a short film about Sam Davis.  When the film explained that Sam Davis was hung after the Union found him guilty of being a spy, they showed a sort of reenactment focusing on the feet of someone after the trap door below them opened.  The kids didn't seem to notice much but all the chaperones (and our teacher) looked at one another with huge eyes and an "did they just show that" expression.  Apparently Carter did notice!

Seven

Trick or Treating

I am so far behind on blogging!  Everyday I say I'm going to catch up but I just haven't been able to find the time lately.  We are always on the go, and when we are home, Grayson wants constant attention.  But, I'm going to try!!!

Heavy rain was predicted for October 31st so our neighborhood decided to move Trick or Treating to Friday, October 30th.  That was fine with us - I didn't think Carter's costume would do too well in the rain.

Art-obsessed Carter wanted to be a giant palette this year.  I wasn't really sure how to make that costume so I suggested (after finding the idea online) that Carter could be a paint brush and hold a palette.  He liked the idea so I ran with it.  I LOVE creative, homemade costumes.  They can be really time consuming (another reason I have no time to blog), but I enjoy the process!

Rylan and I were at Target when they had 40% off Halloween costumes and he saw a Batman costume he really wanted (that was only $6).  And while I love homemade costumes, I only have so much time and if he really wanted to be Batman, that was fine with me too!

Grayson didn't get a say and was a chicken (Carter wore the same costume on his first Halloween)!

Flashback to October 31, 2009:

Grayson didn't love the costume (especially the hood) but didn't fight it either.  He did great trick or treating though.  No fussing and put up with us taking him up to front doors (all the people we didn't know kept calling him a girl though!).

We were generally by ourselves but would meet up with friends every once in awhile.  It was kind of nice going on our own this year (we usually go to Missy's house and trick or treat with her kids).

After doing the majority of our neighborhood in 1 1/2 hours, we decided to head back home.  The big boys sorted their candy, did some trading, and ate a few pieces.

They ate a few more pieces over the next few days but the majority is still sitting in our pantry.  I think I have almost finished off the Reese's Cups :)

One Year Ago

Happy 1st Birthday!  We can't imagine life without your sweet smile!