A Quick Visit to see Great Gran and Great Grandad....

When we left Mary's house, we decided to make a quick 2 hour stop at my grandparents' house since it is only about 30 minutes from where Mary lives. It is not often that we get to see them, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. They were SO excited...Gran met us at the door, and as you can see from the pictures, Kenden had a ball (and probably wore both Gran and Grandad out in the process)!!
Showing Great Grandad how the toy works...

Whispering secrets to Great Grandad (because Mommy and Gran were mouthing and spelling things across the room that he couldn't understand and he was mad about it, so he wanted to tell his OWN secrets!!)....clever kid...



Great Gran is so silly!!!

Telling a spider story....


Reading books with Great Gran....

Visiting the Lajaunie Family and Meeting New Baby Sarah!

Kenden and I took a trip to Louisa to visit the Lajaunie clan and meet new baby, Sarah Catherine! It was a fun, tiring, interesting trip! ha! Mary and I have come to the conclusion that traveling and more adults does not always equal more rest and relaxation....Michael and Kenden fought a good deal of the time, but didn't want to see each other go when it was time to leave, and poor Mary was suffering from a cold and had to visit the doctor, which means we all loaded into the van for a trip into Charlottesville for a doctor's appointment and a bribery trip to Toys R Us for the boys! We really did have a nice time, and baby Sarah is so sweet....Memories we'll never forget!!

Baby Sarah Catherine....

Kenden and Michael enjoying breakfast and watching some cartoons...

Kenden and Michael fighting...err...playing....

Decorating Halloween-colored sugar cookies! What a fun, sticky mess!

Our Annual Visit to Hunt Club Farm to get Our Pumpkins!

This is one of our favorite things to do that we look forward to all year....going to the carnival and pumpkin patch at Hunt Club Farm! Kenden was old enough to do most of the rides alone this year (although he LOVED having mommy along for the slides, and mommy loved it, too!), and he was NOT overly thrilled with the "hot air balloon" ride...he's not nuts about going up and down really fast, and we didn't know that that is what happened when he chose the ride. He refused to do the ferris wheel with Mommy, but LOVED the crawl through maze! We picked some really beautiful pumpkins this year and had a blast!!

Doing the crawl through maze....


Riding the HUGE slides with Mommy! This is Mommy's FAVORITE!!






This was the moon on the night we picked our pumpkins....amazing....

A Little Pre-Halloween Visit....

When we came home from the Harmons' house, we pulled into the driveway, and look at who we found in the corner of our garage door frame?? I guess it is a real sign that October is on its way! YIKES! Needless to say, Jeff was petrified to enter the garage, but eventually worked up the gumption to help unpack the car....

Not so "itsy-bitsy", is he??!!

Our Visit to the Harmons' House in Irmo, SC! ROADTRIP!

Hangin' on the back porch...


Eating dinner....

Having ice cream cones for dessert! YUM-O!!

Our visit to the zoo..

Look at this guy...isn't he amazing!!?? He was waiting to be fed...

Trying to get 3 kids to look and smile...didn't work out too well....LOL!

Yes, he is REAL!!! YIKES!! Had to get some good pics of him though...Kenden LOVES crocodiles!

Which one is the REAL monkey??

Kenden with his fave....

Kenden and Sarah testing the waters....and did I mention that at one point, Jeff was throwing Kenden into the pool, and when he did, BOTH of Kenden's water wings flew off, he went under, resurfaced, turned around (he wasn't facing us) and swam back!? Needless to say, it scared the JEEBERS out of all us adults who witnessed it, but secretly, Jeff and I were sort of impressed that the kid did that. Jeff pulled him out, and he turned to me and said, "Mom, that was a little scary, but can you put my wings back on so I can swim some more!?" He is his father's child...no fear....





Jeff and I decided to be brave and take a roadtrip with Kenden to South Carolina to visit our very good friends, the Harmons! From Virginia Beach to Irmo, it is about a 7 hour drive...needless to say, we were both a little nervous a to whether our Kenden would "weather" the trip well, so I was sure to stock up on LOTS of snacks and new DVDs for the car ride down. I think Jeff was more nervous about it than I was...I've made one long trip with Kenden (ALONE, I might add), when the 2 of us drove to Holden Beach, NC to visit the Buyalos Family almost exactly a year prior.

Well, I have to say, Kenden did beautifully, and although I think we'll fly the next time because 7 hours was also a LONG time in the car for mom and dad, I was very proud of him. Will you believe that the kid did not sleep a wink both going and coming?! Nope, our son does not sleep in the car, and never has. Honestly, it's not so bad that way...he sleeps when he's supposed to...when we put him in bed!

We had SOOO much fun at the Harmons' lovely home! We played outside, visited the bounce house, went to the zoo, and swam in their pool! Kenden and Sarah got along so well, and Little John just enjoyed watching those two goof balls! Many thanks to Greg, Erin, Sarah, and John, for opening their beautiful home to us for 4 days! We are truly blessed with such great friends!

First Day of School 2009 London Bridge Baptist 3 Year Old Class

"Back to school, back to school, to show dad that I'm no fool! Got my shoes, tied on tight, hope I don't get in fight! Back to school, back to school, back....to.....school...."~Billy Madison
Here's Kenden on the first day of school! He was very excited and the day went wonderfully. It really helps when the child is familiar with where they are going. He went into the room and never looked back!! He's growing up so fast!

Big man, ready to get the day started!

Our First Visit to the Lajaunie Family since their BIG Move to Charlottesville from Houston!

This June, my best friend Mary and her family moved back to the East from Houston. Mary moved to Houston nearly 10 years ago, a few days after Jeff and I were married. She met Casey and they married. They spent several married years there, and Casey was offered a job here in Virginia (Mary grew up in Virginia and the vast majority of her immediate family is located on the East Coast). Long story short, Casey took the job and they moved to Louisa County, just outside of Charlottesville! This was our first visit to their new home, and although the circumstances that brought Kenden and I to town are sad (My Uncle Ron passed very suddenly, and he lived in Charlottesville, so I came to town to attend the funeral), I am so glad and blessed that I have such a wonderful friend who opened her home to Kenden and me at the last minute, AND offered to watch Kenden while I went to the funeral (mind you, when this was going on, Mary was 2 weeks from her due date with baby #3....I was super worried that my insane child would send her into labor while I was gone!). As you can see, things went smoothly, and there was no sudden early arrival from baby Sarah!!

Playing on the Lajaunie's SUPER LONG driveway....so much fun!!