"Drakie! Dinner on table!"

We were trying to get out the door when I suddenly hear, "Drakie!  Dinner on table!  Come eat dinner!"  I knew Austin Buddy was up to something, so before investigating, I grabbed my camera.  When I walked around the corner, Austin gave me a huge smile and said, "I feed Drakie dinner on table!"  So cute.  Austin hears me tell him that breakfast/lunch/dinner is on the table and it's time to come sit down.  So of course, that's exactly what he did for his puppy dog.  Austin feeds Drake a lot, and usually he'll put Drake's food directly in his food bowl, but this was so sweet that he changed it up and put Drake's dinner on the table.

01.05.2014

A Glimpse Into Austin's Little Brain

Coming across little things like this is another reminder of how glad I am to stay home with my boys.  I know most people will look at this picture and wonder why I would take a picture of these things on the floor, maybe think it's a little silly, but I look at it and I love it.  I love everything about it.  This is Austin's doing.  To me, it's a glimpse into his little mind.  An idea or a plan he had for these little treasures.  His blankie, his milk, his favorite Fireman Sam guys, his favorite construction guy, and a little school bus guy, along with a yellow piece of paper that we were pretending was a ticket to ride a train.  All neatly placed, like each item has it's own "spot" on the blankie.  These items didn't stay like this for long.  Austin quickly ran back into the kitchen from the playroom and scooped all of these things up again, and off he went to the next "adventure."  This just makes me happy--seeing this, capturing this.  Being at home and having the opportunity to catch a moment of his little working brain.

Colorful Forest 2013

Cooper and I had so much fun last year at the "colorful forest" that all five of us went to check it out this year!  And, oh my goodness, it was so cold.  Unfortunately, my busy crazy mom-of-three forgot to grab Coop's jacket and Philip's jacket...oops.  Coop wore mine for a bit, as did Philip...haha.  Austin, Grayson and I were warm and bundled up, though!

We had such a fun time running around all the colored trees!

Grayson's Bed...or Sleigh?

The boys love to come into our room in the morning, sing our good morning song to Grayson and shower him with morning hugs and kisses.  This particular morning, Coop and Austin entered our room dressed as Santas--both wearing Santa hats, with Coop carrying our "toy" bag.  Before I could even say "Ho Ho Ho" to them, they were whisking away Grayson's bed, pretending it was their sleigh, and they quickly rolled it all the way to the den, filling it with anything and everything they found along the way...

It was all I could do to quickly grab the camera and capture a quick moment of this fun morning.  Well...fun for the big boys.  Grayson wasn't quite sure what to think, but he was ok with it because, really, anything that Coop and Austin do is entertaining, according to my Little One.

12.02.2013

Same Bumbo, Same Kiddo...

Coop at five months old. 

And Coop at five years old.

Little Joyful Mess

You think my brother is the Joyful Mess, but I might follow in his footsteps.  This is what happens when I scoot all the way over to the Christmas tree, grab Austin's hand-painted ornament, and start eating it.  Luckily, Mom and Dad just laughed at the glitter on my face and hands and the fact that my tongue was blue.  Had I been kiddo number one, however, I'm sure they would have completely freaked out that I "ate" paint...at only 5.5 months old.  Oh well.  I thought it was great!

Fall Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

One of my favorite things to do in the fall is to visit this little pumpkin patch/farm, located in the middle of the city, but you'd never know it.  It feels like you really are on a little farm, away from traffic and highways.  Sadly, however, this was the last year this little farm was going to be open.  I think someone bought the land and I'm sure building and parking lot plans are in the works.  So sad...  I have so many fun memories from the farm with Coop and now with Austin.

One afternoon while Cooper was at school, Willa and Stac joined Austin, Grayson and I at this little farm, and we had so much fun!  Austin loved feeding the goats.  He was a little hesitant at first, and kept saying, "Mama do it..."  But, after watching me hold the food out a few times, he decided to try it, too.  He was so cute, too, talking to the goats constantly.  Saying, "Hi goat.  Hi.  Want food!  Breakfast time, goat.  Eat eat."  Over and over again.

And, yes, that is a rock he's trying to feed the goats.

 Austin's absolute favorite part of the entire visit was the hay ride.  We rode three or four times in a row.  I remember taking Cooper at this same age, and he, too, loved loved this same hay ride.  (I think Coop rode the tractor at least seven times in a row.)  Halfway through the ride, there is a big hay bale with a dummy stuck in the middle of the hay.  You just see the dummy from the waist down, and it looks like his front half is stuck in the hay.  When we passed this part, Austin pointed to the guy and kept saying, "guy stuck!  guy stuck!"  (He's so into Fireman Sam, that he's always wanting to go to the rescue of people/things that are stuck.)  I tried to explain it was just pretend, but Austin could not get passed the stuck guy.  When we got home, all he told Philip and Coop about was the stuck guy.  And for days and days after this, he would tell me about how he rode a tractor and the guy was stuck...

 Before you leave the farm, you get to pick out a pumpkin to take home.  Austin loved this part and inspected a few different pumpkins before picking one for himself and one for me.

 And this little guy, just slept most of the time.  So sad I can't take him back next year.  But, I'll work on finding another pumpkin patch for us to make just as many fun memories in, too!

So much fun!!

 

About a week later, on a day that Coop didn't have school, I took the boys back to the farm, hoping we could get in one last visit before they closed...  But we were a day too late.  This is as close as we got to the goats, the pumpkins, the tractor and the stuck guy...  (But, luckily there is a super fun park around the corner, so we headed over there and still had a great morning...tractor or not!)

10.17.2013