A Shopping Tradition!

Of course like thousands of others out shopping, my mom, cousin Charleen and I went shopping on Friday. We left at 5AM and headed to Kohls, Avenues, and Towne Center. We don't try to fight for the best deal of the day and really don't have anything in particular to buy, but it's always our annual tradition. I even went 2 years ago when I was 9 months pregnant with Brody and he was born the next week. I guess you could say I am a die hard!

It was a very tiring but productive day since we didn't get home until 9pm. However, I am almost finished with Christmas shopping. Check out the back of my vehicle.... These aren't all my purchases though - thank goodness.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving lunch with my parents. Since there is only 4 of us and Brody we didn't want to go all out so we bought our precooked turkey and dressing from Fresh Market and then mom made the 3 other sides. This made it much easier for us all. You may be wondering why Fresh Market since it's so far away for us - but my work gave me a gift certificate for Christmas last year so what better time to use it.

While Jason went to play golf that morning, Brody and I watched the Macy's parade and he also helped me in the kitchen with the potatoes for potato soup that night. Here's a few pictures of the start of our day.

Brody watching the Macy's parade.

Our pretty turkey - Fresh Market style.

Brody loves to help me in the kitchen. He even tried to cut some of the potatoes for me - with his blunt toddler knife needless to say.

Jason "carving" our turkey.

Our boy loves to eat.

Here's a couple of pictures of Brody trying to help me decide the best deals for Black Friday.

Poppy and Nana came over Thanksgiving night to visit.

Who needs expensive toys?

Brody had the bright idea one night to treat the laundry basket as a boat. It started with Jason pushing him around in it. Of course, that's pretty tiring so we came up with putting Albert The Gator and Ooh Ooh the Monkey in for Brody to push around in the boat. They had to take turns and then it was Allye's turn - she stayed in but was definitely ready to get out. Here's some cute pictures of Brody's inexpensive game!!! No need for expensive presents for Christmas just give him a laundry basket.

Almost 2

I can't believe Brody will be 2 in a little over a week. Jason and I decided to buy him a swingset for his birthday. I found a great deal on one that included everything and you just have to put it together. What a deal, huh? They had slashed the price because they warehouse was moving and didn't want to move all of the lumber. Jason somewhat enjoys putting things together (at least that's what I think)- I guess this is where Brody gets it from - so he now has a project that has to be completed by Brody's birthday party on Dec 6.

Here's a few pics of the initial stage and of course Brody has to help daddy. Jason is so patient at letting Brody help as much as possible.

It took quite awhile to get everything organized and make sure he had everything. Brody was a big help at putting the nuts, bolts, and screws in individual cups.

UH OH!!

Around this house you have to help build your own toys....

I'll keep you posted on the status of the swingset.

PartyLite cleaning

After 6 years of selling PartyLite candles, it is time to clean out the "huge" stash of holders and candles. I plan to send out an email flyer with everything I am selling - so in order to do so I had to see what all I have. Of course Brody had to get in on the action and "help mama". He pulled out the wicks and smelled and counted them. It was a great lesson for him - he knows all of his colors and can count to 10 - thanks to the help of April and Kristin who keep him while I'm at work 3 days a week.

Trying to put the wick back in the candle. He loves putting things in holes.


Counting and naming the colors.

Not sure if this is his way of smelling or trying to "blow" it out.

Here's the stack of PartyLite so far that I will be selling at some great bargain prices. There's a lot more in the garage.

Welcome to the TWOS!!!

I am so blessed to be able to be at home on Wednesdays and Fridays, but certain times like today I realize why I work 3 days a week. Today I thought I would try to clean our cluttered, unorganized office but of course I needed to keep Brody occupied. He is such a little helper. He loves to put things in the trash or pull them out, whichever he feels necessary at the time.


While cleaning, I "thought" he was pulling things out of the trash bag that I had started. However, I looked over and he had decided it was necessary to "clean" out one of the drawers of the desk. He was in the middle of pulling out every sheet of paper and throwing it to the side. I rushed over to get him occupied in something else and explain that we don't need to empty the drawer out. While cleaning that "mess" up, I hear a new sound. I look up and he has grabbed the pen that I hurriedly left on the edge of the table while getting him to stop pulling out everything. He has started "drawing" on the new toy that NiNi just gave him and we just brought out today. It's the Thomas the Train Aqua Doodle. I guess he thought "hey here's a pen and here's a white surface". This is why the office door is usually shut. I know this is only the beginning. :) Can you tell I am so excited.

Look at his great artwork....

The next Emeril

Brody has a drawer in the kitchen that I let him play with the pots and pans. I figured it wasn't worth fighting so I assumed I would just wash those pots when I needed them. Well, last night he decided to get a couple of them out with a pot holder as well and cook up a "great" meal. Not sure where he gets this from because I'm not the big cook!! Hopefully, he'll learn how to fold clothes pretty good too - since the pile of clothes in the background.

Go Gators

Our annual Florida / Georgia get together was a little smaller this year due to sick kids - the Adams' and half of the Cruce's. However, the Walsky's, Libby's, and John came over. Now, John is the ONLY Dawg fan among us all so it makes the party quite fun.

Of course this year was a GREAT game AND we also had some great entertainment by Bradyn and Brody. We had the Florida marching band music on CD and for every touchdown - which was A LOT we played it and the 2 boys showed us their moves. Listen closely and you'll hear Brody say Go Gators while he does the Gator chomp.

Our little engineer!

For Brody's 2nd Halloween, he dressed up as a train engineer. He LOVES choo choo trains and everything stops when he hears a train going by. I was really surprised at how well Brody did at putting his costume on. We kept saying that this is what a person who drives the train wears - I guess that helped.

We went up to the church for our Fall Festival. They had games, bouncy houses (Brody was a little young for these), a fire truck and a police car. Of course Brody had to take it all in first and it was very difficult to make him smile. He played several games and of course his favorite was the basketball and tennis ball toss to knock down the milk bottles. He did pretty good for a 2 year old. I must say he has a very good arm - Jason is so proud.

Brody didn't want to put the ducks back for the next person. He thought that was his prize.

Brody really loved being able to sit in the FRONT seat of a police car and the fire truck. He of course wanted to play with all of the gadgets.

After the Fall Festival, we headed to Mark and Wendy Stewart's house so they could see him and some of our Bible Study gang was already there. Here's a picture of the kids - Brody, Baylie, Clay, & Kinley.

Tyler's 2nd Birthday

Brody's friend Tyler Hodges turned 2 on Halloween. He had a few friends over for a morning party. There was Tyler, Brody, and Dominic Snead. These boys are all within a couple of months of each other. Of course they are so young that they don't really play with each other yet, but I'm sure they will. Here they are - it's quite difficult to get 3 two year olds to sit on a couch together for a picture - here's our best effort.

Towards the end of the party, a fire truck parked outside their house to empty out their hoses. Brody of course LOVES fire trucks - I guess what 2 year old boy doesn't. We were able to take pictures in front of it - so Brody was quite excited.

A golf weekend

This past year, Jason participated in a golf league which means he played golf about twice a month and he qualified to particiate in the end of the year tournament which was held in Hilton Head Island, SC last weekend. We decided to make it a family weekend - Jason would play golf in the morning and Brody and I would shop and play. I was very excited about going.

We stayed in a very nice hotel - The Hilton right on the beach. Hilton Head is so nice - lots of cute little shops, great food, and bike paths EVERYWHERE and oh yeah - OUTLET MALLS!! We got there Friday afternoon and it was POURING rain - they say they received 7 inches of rain that day. Thank goodness the weather cleared up for all of us - golf and shopping. While Jason played golf Saturday, Brody and I drove around HH and found some great deals. We picked up Jason and headed to the outlet malls. Brody is growing so fast that I realized he didn't have a lot of cool weather clothes so of course I had to shop and what better place to do this then at the outlet malls.

While Jason played golf Sunday morning, Brody and I rented a bike and rode around HH. It was so much fun. He loves riding on the bike so it was quite a treat. It is amazing how much he is learning - everyday is an adventure. He knows all of his colors so we played "What's that color" and "Where is something 'green' " After the bike ride, Brody played on the beach a little bit before we had to pack up and leave.





Our little man on our bike ride.
Resting after a hard day of play....
When we picked Jason up on Saturday and Sunday, Brody and I walked out to the driving range so Brody could take it all in. Of course Brody was ready to play and he did show off his skills on Sat but Sunday he just sat and ate a snack while we waited.