Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago, we headed to Old Baker Farm to visit our favorite pumpkin patch. We started the day off with a trip through the corn maize. All smiles here at this point! 

 This was probably 40 minutes later and we were STILL not out of the maize. I'm sad to report that it defeated us this year. I don't know what happened!

The boys had never played in the cotton before, so that was a new adventure. They said it stunk! Ha! 

 Obligatory poses...

 Hudson climbed up to the top of the hay bail and asked that I take his picture...so here you go!

 They actually both had so much fun climbing the hay bales. They went up and down a bunch of times.

 Then it was finally time to hit the patch.

 I did not ask them to pose in these pictures...they are so funny (and maybe a little trained).

 This picture below represents reality! :)

 Somebody didn't like touching his dirty pumpkin! We tried the "you pick it, you carry it" mentality, but it clearly did not work! Maybe next year. Thankfully, he recovered quickly!

We had a great morning out! We picked 4 pumpkins that are still proudly waiting on our front porch to be carved! Hopefully we'll get to that this week!

Fall Soccer and Baseball

Harrison is playing soccer this fall and LOVING it. In fact, a couple of weeks ago it was a little rainy and our coach called to cancel right before we were about to leave to go so he was already all dressed and ready, and Harrison just did not understand. He kept saying, "But I just love soccer!" Sweet thing.

 

 We are playing with our buddies in the Homewood league this fall. Vestavia does not have organized soccer until next year for their age, so us Vestavians are playing soccer on Thursday nights in Homewood and it has been fabulous so far!

 His coach is extremely calm and patient and is really trying to get the kids to learn the game, which is really sort of funny since the majority are THREE. Obviously, it's complete chaos (and cuteness!).

 Harrison is still a little timid, but he can kick the ball a mile! If we could just get him to kick it and continue with it to the goal, we'd be doing great! He likes to admire his kicks! :)

Hudson is loving baseball this fall too! His coach is awesome and has taught this boy how to hit! He's doing so well! We are super proud of him. He's doing great catching the ball too!

 Of course he would tell you that his favorite part is playing with his buddies...my social butterfly!

It's been a wonderful fall of sports so far!

Quck Visit With Carrie

Carrie came into town a couple of weekends ago for a quick visit. Our grandmother (Mama Jean) really took a turn for the worse and was in the ICU and things were not looking good. It was so bad that I had prepared the kids and had my big cry and had started to come to terms with it.  She wanted to see her one more time so she flew in for a quick weekend visit. As it turned out, Mama Jean decided she was not quite ready to leave this world yet so we are so happy about that, however she just went back in the hospital today so who knows. 

Carrie brought Rooney solo this time and we were so excited that she was brave enough to do it! It is such a long flight with a little one. We could not wait to get our hands on this precious doll! Hudson just LOVES Rooney. He and I are taking a special trip to Cali just the two of us in a month to celebrate Rooney turning 1 and also celebrating Carrie for surviving one heck of a long year with her health (she's doing great by the way!) and we cannot wait.

 Rooney learned a lot about what it is like to live in the suburbs! Ha!

 And Carrie learned how heavy 3 kids in a wagon are! :) Because only Carrie would do of course!

 We got to see her every day she was here and it was so fun. I really wish we weren't so far away!

 She even helped me make Harrison's "cow jumps over the moon" costume for the nursery rhyme parade (which was on his birthday and he decided he did not want to go to school that day!). I thought it turned out cute!

Carrie, we'll see you in a month! Woo hoo!!!

Harrison's Actual Birthday and 4 Year Old Stats

We had Harrison's 4 year old check up this morning. I despise this checkup more than any other due to the amount of shots--he had to get 4! But, he is done until he's 11! Woo hoo!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 40.6 pounds (90th)

Height: 41 inches (90th)

Everything else looked great! We did have a little scare in that I told Dr. C. about Harrison's recent bed wettings after being potty trained a year, and everyone we know knows that he is a very excessive sweater, so we did a quick urine test to rule out any glucose (which could mean diabetes). He was good though! Phew! Just a normal bed wetter and sweater! :) He is one healthy (and huge!) 4 year old! At least he sort of looks his age now. Ha!

I forgot to blog about his real birthday. It fell on a Friday this year which was great because I was off. We had big plans to go to the "McQueen Center" as he likes to call it! It is what he chose for the day--he loves that place.

I was awakened pretty early that morning by Hudson, who had thrown up. Uh oh...party for Harrison the next day at our house and signs of a bug were appearing. Well, I never actually SAW him throw up, but he claimed he did and he was acting pretty puny, so it was definitely no school for him. You probably know how this turned out--well, he never threw up again, and after he put down 2 donuts after Harrison and I came back from Krispy Kreme, I declared that he pulled a fast one on me. :) He is still not admitting that he did not throw up, but I have a sinking suspicion that he wanted to stay home with his brother on his birthday! Who can blame him!?!

Well, I did not let Hudson go to Krispy Kreme. Luckily, Joel was off too and stayed home with him. Harrison and I had so much fun! He wanted a monster donut and a pumpkin one, and then he ate part of my plain one too! It was his birthday, so why not have 3 donuts!?!?

 Then we came home and decided to open presents before we were to head to McWane. Harrison was SO excited to get his own bike!

 I just loved this helmet...I had to get it. It fits Harrison's personality to a T!

 He rode his bike all over our house and it finally cleared up a bit so he could ride it outside. It did not take him long at all to get the hang of it. He was so excited about it that he told me he wanted to stay home and not go to McWane! Well, ok then!

 We did have to make a run to the Western for some birthday party stuff, so he did his birthday ride on the horse! He was announcing to everyone that he was 4 that day! He is very proud to be 4!

 We had a great day at home. One of Harrison's wishes for his birthday was that he did not have to take a nap that day! He seriously talked about it all week leading up to it. It was a big deal to skip nap! Ha! Anyway, so my parents came over mid afternoon and gave Harrison a gigantic crane truck that is taller than Hudson, which he has declared as his favorite toy and has caused numerous fights between the boys, and then we went to Johnny Rockets (his pick!) for dinner because they would sing to him! He made sure that they sang...poor waitress was pretty fed up with him asking about it over and over and over again! Ha! They finally did and it was everything he wanted it to be!

 Then it was back home for more gifts from Migi and Pops! This is one lucky boy we have here!

It wasn't exactly the day I had planned, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow! He had a great day and could not wait until his party the next day!

Harrison's Tumble Bus Party

We celebrated Harrison turning FOUR with the Tumble Bus this morning. Of course the weather did not cooperate and the "outside" party that we had planned for had to come inside, but it was ok! Harrison was SO excited he woke up at 6 am this morning ready to go! :)

 

 It was a big deal when the bus arrived! So exciting!

 We ended up having to have all the food indoors, but at least our dining room got some use! I just kept it simple and had Chick-fil-A nuggets, grape and strawberry fruit skewers, popcorn and chips, and then cookies and Harrison requested cupcakes.

 Cookies made by Joel's Aunt Gail. They were awesome and tasted great too!

 Fun on the bus!

 I love these happy faces!

 The bus was really cute and definitely something different to do.

 The big kids got lucky and got to go on the bus too.

 Trying to get them all to sit and smile was difficult, and I'm pretty sure this was not all the kids, but oh well!

 The kids spent a good 30 minutes on the bus at first, and then they were off and on the rest of the time. We set up our little bouncy house in our garage along with our riding toys, and that worked great. So between the bus, the garage, and the boys' rooms, the kids had fun! And surprisingly our house did not get destroyed!

The Three Musketeers as they now call themselves...aka the older brothers who kept locking the little kids out of the room and put signs up that said no girls and no babies allowed! Too funny!

 Harrison was just so happy the entire morning. And he hardly sat still. He was all over the place and loved having all of his friends come play!

 He loves icing!

 

All of the kids received medals from the Tumble Bus so that was neat too. And we handed out little school bus toys for the kids on the way out.

It was a fun morning celebrating our little guy! Now it's nap time! ;)