October 14

Sometimes when we pick Aaron up from school we need to make a run to the grocery store, which is in the same plaza. He likes to walk to the store with one parent while the other drives the car over and waves to the walkers while driving by. I drove the car over today, and here are my cute guys waiting on the bench for me to walk into the store.

October 13

Today I made my first attempt at fried chicken. Frying things scares the crap out of me because I’m always afraid it’s going to turn out too greasy or not cooked on the inside. I got a couple of tips, and have to say that for my first try, it wasn’t horrible!

October 12

Luckily, this is a bit of an easy week at school because of a strange schedule. I took this picture as reference for later because I had to erase the board, but it works nicely for the blog too! This is part of the whiteboard in my classroom, with some world history team planning on it. Good stuff, huh?

October 11

Today afterschool (holy CRAP I was tired!!) Aaron and Chris played some ball in the backyard. Aaron is even more into it now that t-ball has started.

I love these shots!

 

October 10

Flying home today, fast fun visit! I got a couple minutes of shut-eye while Aaron watched movie after movie and snacked his face off.

We hit Chik-fil-a on the way home from the airport, and whaddyaknow, it was Father-Daughter date night, and the cow was there AGAIN!

October 9

Today is our last full day in California, and after all the excitement and party work, I was looking forward to a relaxing day of doing not much with the fam.

Boys on iPads…

Having some Sunday chili together

and now that everything has been announced…two pregnant sisters together!! Can’t wait to scrap these!

We also went through the boys old baby clothes to find any that are neutral enough for baby sister, and we brought back a bag full.

And sitting together for some great pictures with Grampy.

October 8

It’s BIRTHDAY TIME!

Absolutely the COOLEST thing about this Handy Manny party is the cake my sister made. It is AMAZING. She made a toolbox cake and actually hand-made ALL THE TOOLS OUT OF MARZIPAN AND PAINTED THEM! Unbelievable. I would have taken Aarons actual toys and stuck them in a cake. Check it out…

I know, right?!?!?!

Here’s some more party sceneage

Taco bar…

a birthday boy…

Baby Emmersyn, our cousin Malinda’s youngest daughter. SO SWEET! And Aaron loved helping to feed her, GOOD SIGN!

And her big sister Mady…

Handy Cameron!

Cake time!! hehe.

October 7

So after a good night’s sleep that ended WAY too early because Aaron and I were both on VA time and woke up at 4:30 am…we had a nice morning walk with Grampy and then went over to hang out with Kelly and Cameron for the day. The boys played all day (with no naps) and Kelly and I did party stuff and visited. It was a fun day and I’m really glad we had the chance to spend so much time together.

I also tried out the new 50 mm lens I got for my birthday…but not that much, because we were indoors in low light.

Here’s a peanut butter and jelly faced nephew…who’s about to turn THREE!

Here’s Cameron taking some pictures of his own…

And some boys watching Spookly the Square Pumpkin, which Auntie Kelly very thoughtfully recorded and saved for them to watch together. Aaron has been singing the song EVER SINCE (I’m typing this post on 10/29 and I mean EVER SINCE)

engrossed! hehehe

October 6

Okay nooooooow get ready for a string of photos!! Today Aaron and I flew to California right after school so we could go to Cameron’s 3rd birthday party and visit everybody. I am really glad we got to do this because we will not be able to go at Christmas time due to the arrival of baby sister and it will be WAY TOO LONG before we are able to go back to CA and visit the family. My parents got these tickets for us, and Aaron was really excited for our trip. Flying was hard on my large pregnant self and I was completely exhausted the whole trip, but it was awesome. Here is a picture of Aaron playing FacesiMake on the iPad, an app that Grampy gifted to us before we flew out so Aaron would have something new to amuse him on the plane. It is an AWESOME app. If you have kids and an iDevice…you have GOT to get it.

October 4-5

I have been trying to do a better job of at least snapping a photo with my phone when I know I haven’t taken a “real one” but I guess that didn’t happen these two days.

October 3

We’re here…not hiding, and not taking a lot of pictures either, truthfully. But let’s catch up a bit anyway, shall we? I took this picture hastily with my phone on 10/3 from inside my car…it’s the closest thing to graffiti I have ever seen anywhere near our house. It’s a stereo with ha ha ha on the side.

October 2

How about a little Halloween costume preview? We knew we were looking for a knight costume, and Aaron is planning to carry his sword and shield from Medieval Times. I was really hoping to find one at Target rather than someplace more expensive, and we just LOVE this one! He looks adorable :)

He takes his knightly duties very seriously.

October 1

We had kind of a full day planned today, and got a lot accomplished.

First of all, I am so excited that today was Aaron’s first day of t-ball! It technically is just picture day, but coach called and said we would do a short practice after pictures. It was REALLY cold with a chilly wind and we did NOT dress as warmly as we should have.

Aaron had a GREAT time. He was so excited. He did a great job posing for the individual and team pictures, and watching those little guys practice was just too cute. They did some throwing practice, which Aaron picked up quickly, then they all got in a line to run the bases, which was the funniest part. They didn’t run on the baselines, even though their coach was leading them. They ran last first base, causing a huge arc to second, and then cut inside third, only to walk past home plate without touching it. Adorable. Then each boy (there are 10) got a chance to hit and run the bases. While Aaron waited for his turn, he played first base, which is just because that was the place he ran to once he had his glove on, and every time someone hit the ball, he raced to wherever it was to be the first to get it rather than staying on his base. It was hilarious. Finally the assistance coach, who was very lovable, came to coach Aaron on staying on his base, and despite his best intentions, Aaron just couldn’t resist the impulse to race after that ball no matter where on the field it went. We just laughed and laughed. He learned other fine points of playing first base pretty quickly and did a great job. It was so much fun to watch.

Aaron was so independent through the whole thing that I kept getting choked up. No clinging, no reluctance, he just grabbed his gear and ran where he was supposed to go and forgot all about it. I was so proud of him that I couldn’t stand it, and when we got in the car to head home, he sighed and said, “That was awesome,” and I burst into tears. That of course cracked Chris up and caused Aaron to ask, as he often has to,
“Mommy, why are you crying if you’re happy? People only cry when they’re sad.” What a great milestone, and what a big boy.

The only way the day could have gone better was if I had been able to get pictures. Tell me if this has happened to you…you are snapping away on your camera, getting lots of great shots, it’s an important day…and one time, after about 30 minutes of picture taking has passed, you glance down at the view window of your camera and it says “no card”. Where was my card? Here in my laptop, of course. Man that is a terrible feeling, and my heart sinks down to my toes. All the cute pictures I “took” of him holding his bat on his first day, and the pictures I “got” as he raced onto the field, don’t exist. So awful.

I got some cell phone pictures from that point on, but it’s not the same. I will be able to replicate the pictures the next time we go, but I need a system in place. I need an extra card duct taped onto my camera strap for emergencies or something. Here’s what I managed to get, which is better than nothing. (Aaron is in a red sweatshirt)

Grabbing a runaway ball during throwing practice…

running the bases…

Mr. first base, ready for action…

and batting practice…

first ever team huddle *sniff*

After that, we went home to change Aaron into clean clothes and then headed to Dick’s to get him some baseball pants, baseball socks, and a bag. We also went to Target to get him a new pair of school sneakers, since his prior pair was rendered “t-ball only” by the time this practice was over.

Then we headed home for a quick visit from the floor guy since we have some trouble spots, and then Neecers and Fisher came over for a little dinner and hair coloring.

phew! Chris and Ashley and I all fell asleep downstairs.