Haunted Museum

Rylan had is only "early" soccer game of the season last Saturday - it was at 11 am.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any more participation and any less crying from my team.  I think we just have a very young and immature team this year, but you never know what to expect when you have a team of 3 year olds!  When Rylan decided to play (he spent a lot of time on the sideline not wanting to play after he bumped heads with another kid), he was amazing!  He easily took the ball away from the other team and brought it down to score.  We just still have to work on motivation (candy bribes have lost their appeal!).

Carter's game was right after Rylan's at noon (so nice!), and then we went downtown to the Tennessee State Museum for their "Haunted Museum".  This was our first time to the museum so we weren't sure what to expect.  It's actual a decent size (and always has free admission).

The kids got to dress in their halloween costumes - if you can't tell, they are dragons! (I bought these after Halloween at Old Navy last year really cheap thinking the boys MIGHT want to wear them but we could use them for dress up otherwise.  Surprisingly they are all for wearing them this year!)

There were lots of ghost stories being told around the museum but we skipped them because we really didn't want to deal with nightmares from them!  We stopped at all the games and crafts though.  After each one, the kids got to pick out a goodie.  There were markers on the floor leading the kids in the right direction around the museum and following these was probably the highlight for the boys :)

Toss the Spider into the Cauldron:

I tried to get Carter to try out the stocks (we had just seen this in a book or something the day before) but even once I showed him how to do it, he refused.

Knock Down the Cans:

Vampire Puppet:

Rylan even requested a tattoo on his face!!!  The boys usually refuse to have anything on their faces!

End the end of the "trail", the kids got cookies and a juice box.  The kids didn't like the juice flavors so the adults got a drink - score! :)

The event was a little crowded but still something we'll probably go to again (especially since it's free!).

Dragon Park & Roger Day

Last Friday we met Missy and her kids at Fannie Mae Dees Park (otherwise known as Dragon Park because of the huge mosaic-tiled dragon sculpture).

It was a perfect fall morning - crisp and cool but not freezing.  The kids ran laps around the park going from the dragon to the playground to a huge rocky hill to the open area where squirrels were running everywhere as the boys chased them.

There was a new bike rack at the park that is part of the city’s "green and healthy living initiative".  Metro Arts has commissioned local and regional artists to design bicycle racks in downtown Nashville and adjacent neighborhoods.  This one is called "Lotus" and is made out of bicycle frames.  All of the bike racks are pretty cool that I've seen so far.

After a few hours of playing we went to the downtown library to see Roger Day perform.  The kids and I saw him this summer at the Brentwood Library and he was great.

We did the second show of the day and it wasn't very crowded and perfect for the kids to dance along!

One of our favorite songs is "Mosquito Burrito".  Carter is doing the movements Roger Day taught the kids at the beginning of the song and the rest are just going crazy dancing :)  There is a point Rylan is staring at his hands trying to make the buzzing mosquito.  Earlier he sat looking at his hands for a full minute trying to only put out his thumb and pinkie.  He eventually got it!

Lil Sluggers - Rylan

I signed the boys up for the Fall II session of Lil Sluggers and it started this week (we overlap soccer by one week so it's been a very full week!).

Rylan is doing the Minors I (for 3 year olds) class on Tuesdays at 4 pm.  The class is at the Indoor Arena at Crockett Park.  Carter has speech until 3 pm on those days so we get to kill an hour every week between the two things (this week we went to the playground).

Rylan was super excited to do "Carter's baseball" as he was calling it (Carter took a class in the spring).  I think Rylan was most excited to get a shirt!  He's on the green team.

Like the class Carter took, the kids don't play a game.  They just do lots of fun drills to learn to play baseball.  On Tuesday there were 5 kids in Rylan's class (6 is the max).  Only one had some trouble staying focused and doing what he was supposed to.

Rylan is on the right in this picture where the boys were practicing throwing.  The coach was trying to get Rylan to throw right handed so I ran out there real quick to tell him Rylan is left handed (but tends to bat better right handed).  After that, Rylan was throwing much better :)

Rylan (like Carter) is so stinking competitive.  He tried so hard to be the first one to each base as the kids were running the bases.

Here's a video of Rylan hitting the ball off the tee.  The coach was emphasizing keeping your eye on the ball - Rylan was staring it down!!!

Rylan seemed to really enjoy the class.  He did great listening to the coach but there are two other classes going on at the same time so he'd occasionally watch them when it wasn't his turn to do something.  The coach seems great so far too.  I'm still impressed by the program!

First Week of Speech

Rylan started speech this week.  He is going on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1:45 pm for 30 minutes.  It's not the best time because Rylan still naps but it worked fine this week.

Rylan is very proud of his very own speech notebook.

Right now Rylan is working on modeling final consonant sounds.  So we say one word (like "row") and then say another word that is the same as the first but with an additional consonant sound on the end (like "road").

Since it's still new, it's easy to get Rylan to practice right now.

After speech on Monday, we came home.  I turned on a cartoon and Rylan fell asleep within a couple of minutes.  He had to have his speech notebook with him :)

On Wednesdays we have to rush over to preschool to pick Carter up by 2:30 pm.  I was a little nervous if we'd make it on time this week but after buckling Rylan into his carseat and getting ready to leave the elementary school, my car wouldn't start.  The battery was dead.  After calling a few of the mom's of Carter's classmates, I finally got in touch with Courtney.  She has a kindergartener at the school we have speech so she was able to pick up Carter and drive him to me.  Brian then jumped my car (he couldn't drive Carter since he doesn't have any carseats in his car) and I drove over to Advanced Auto Parts and got my battery replaced (it was still under warranty - woohoo!).  Fun stuff :)

Radnor Lake

Last week the boys and I met Missy and her boys at Radnor Lake.  Radnor Lake is a state natural area in southern Nashville (bordering Brentwood) that we'd been to a couple of times before to do some hiking.  We thought it would just be somewhere different for the boys to run around and play.  When we go to parks, the boys definitely spend more time playing with sticks and exploring than playing on the playground equipment.

We spent a couple of hours there.  The boys also walked around the trails and definitely walked over a mile, probably more.  We spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the lake and collecting different sticks.

More Cheekwood Pictures

We met up with a bunch of friends the first week of October at Cheekwood.  We played in the pumpkin patch, roamed through the scarecrows, played in the treehouse, picnicked, and just had fun running around and playing with what nature provided (mainly sticks and rocks)!

Recent Pictures

My mom is visiting right now so last night Brian and I used a Living Social coupon I bought for Mayday Brewery in Murfreesboro.

The brewery is in an old ribbon factory of a larger woolen mill.

The tour was really good.  As always, completely different than any other tour we'd been on.  The owner of the brewery did the tour and he has no filter and was pretty entertaining.

A picture of our tour group is on Mayday's facebook page - the owner is the guy behind Brian.

We did the last tour of the day (which lasted an hour and provided us with a total of a couple of pints each) and after our tour, a band played in the brewhouse for the first time ever (they usually play in the taproom).  We stuck around for another pint and then headed off to dinner.

This morning I did my longest training run on my training calendar - 20 miles.  And it was cold!!!  I got to Crockett Park around 7:30 am and it was only 35F.  Last night was our first frost of the season too.

I made it though and didn't even have to shed layers - it stayed cold in the shade all morning.  And I ran at 9:30/mile pace.  The run was tough but if I can run at that pace for another 6.2 miles, I can beat my last marathon time (that is my only goal for this race). (I ran my last marathon in 4:14:41.)

Soccer Pictures

We got the boys' soccer pictures on Saturday.

Carter's picture looks great, but, as usual, I should have gotten his hair cut before picture day (fall 2012 and spring 2013).

His team picture is really good too - everyone is actually looking at the camera!  Even though a few aren't smiling, the picture shows their personality!

Top Row: Coach Brian, Bates, Andrew, Colsen, Brandon, Brett, Liam

Bottom Row: Ian, Jacob, Carter, Cade, Campbell

We knew a lot of these kids before the season.  Brett has played with Carter since they started last year.  Cade is one of our neighbors.  Campbell is in Carter's class.  Andrew and Colsen are in the class next door to them.

For some reason, Rylan doesn't like Rylan in his picture to me.  It's probably his INSANELY long hair and the fact he got super sweaty before his picture making his hair even weirder.  I really need to make sure these kids get a haircut before picture day!

Surprisingly most of my team is looking at the camera for our photo too.  And like Brian's team, they actually all made it on picture day!

Top Row: Coach Meghan, Owen D., Owen M., Cole, Sam, Maddox, Liam

Bottom Row: Branson, Rocco, Radnor, Rylan, Mason, Camdyn

We knew a couple of the boys on Rylan's team too before the season.  Both Radnor and Mason were in his class last year.

Recent Pictures

Last Friday was Carter's teacher's birthday.  I asked if he could make her a card and this is what he came up with.  There was no encouraging to just do a little more (for once) and he just kept adding to it!

Everything I wrote was a direct quote from Carter.

Last week was "E" week in Carter's class.  One of the books that was read was "Elmer the Patchwork Elephant".  So this was how he colored his elephant - love it!

We met up with Missy and Faby on Friday at Crockett Park - gotta love a slide that is wide enough for 4 kids to use at once!

Yum ... Perfect post run drink for both Brian and I on Sunday (I did a half marathon and he had an 8-mile training run).

Our TWO dogs :)

The ministry at the boys' school has asked that one mom in each class this year be the room mom.  Both the boys' teachers know that I organize playdates for the classes so they both asked me to do it, which I'm so happy to do. (Sophie's mom, Carter's fellow red-head, is doing it with me in Carter's class.)

One of the first things the ministry asked us to do was collect books the teachers requested for their classrooms for a Fall Book Drive.  I gave Ms. Denise her books on Tuesday from the class (Rylan's class is running a little behind).

Ms. Denise moved show-and-tell day to Wednesdays.  It's "F" week so Carter brought in these fish.

Even pirates get tired!

Gross Feet

I took Rylan to the pediatrician a couple of weeks ago because his feet were looking rough.  For awhile, the ends of Rylan's toes have been peeling.  He has funny toenails though (just like Carter), that are thin and sort of wrap around his toes as soon as they start growing out, so I wasn't sure if that was causing the peeling.

But then I noticed scaly patches on the balls of his feet.  I was worried this was something that was starting to spread (like a fungus???) and wouldn't stop unless treated so we were off to the doctor.

It turns out Rylan has juvenile plantar dermatosis, which is like eczema on the feet (and is only on the toes and balls of the feet).  To treat it, we are putting hydrocortison cream and Aquaphor on Rylan's feet before bed.  After two weeks, his feet are starting to look much better.  They aren't 100% normal yet, but they are getting there!

These pictures don't show much but give you a little of an idea of what Rylan's feet looked like before we started treating them.