RIP Amber 7/4/91 - 10/29/09

On my 14th birthday I got the best give ever...a 4 week old kitten. I named her Amber and she was the love of my life. She went to JMU with me for a year, then moved into my very first apartment with me after graduating from college, then took the long trek to Kentucky where she had witnessed me getting married and having two beautiful children. Amber was always around, a very social kitty that loved being held and had a purr that would melt your heart. Today, 18+ years later I never imagined would be the day I had to play God, but it was in her best interest as her physical body was failing her. She is in a better place along with many other beloved pets I have had throughout my lifetime. Amber, I will always love you and you will forever have a piece of my heart.

Busy, Busy...

We have had a couple really busy weeks!! We went on a Krispy Kreme Tour and Alex and Abby had their first warm Kristy Kreme's...yummy!!! Then we headed to my sister, Kelly's, house for the annual Fishel Road Fall festival in Virginia. I drove with the kids for 9 hours and they were very good. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were, I hope they are good in the car when we head to Hilton Head in a few weeks.

Neena & Pop-Pop with Alex & Abby


Alex waited for the bus with Luke, he loves school buses and can't wait to be able to ride one...I'm sure the time for him to go to school will be here before we know it.

Acting silly!

All 5 of Neena & Pop-Pop's grandchildren (from left to right), Cooper, Meghan, Abby, Luke & Alex. Alex was playing with a bottle of water that is why he is soaking wet.

The bottle of water that had to sit right next to him!

The standoff in the woods....Cooper was not about to let anyone else ride the tricycle

Wagon rides

Big girl with her juice box

Donut eating contest...Alex thought it was more fun to watch the other kids try to eat the donut off the string than to eat it himself

Sack races...Luke won by throwing his entire body across the line

Pop-Pop stirring the apple butter

Neena & Aunt Kelly

Meghan and Emma (neighbor)

Yum-O

Alex shared his first donut with Abby....so sweet!

Keeneland...

On Saturday we went to Keeneland, sans kids, Mamaw watched them all day while we went to bet on the horses. We had a great time with Josh, Lori, Charlie, Shelly, Will & Marie. We didn't win big but had a great time nonetheless.

Josh, Lori, Me, JB

Josh & Lori, welcome back from your world trip! Glad you are back in the states and only 2 hours from us, we look forward to spending more time with you!
On the way to Keenland you pass this castle, known as Castle Post. I think it is so cool, JB thinks it is a bit pretentious. I did some research and found out that it is a hotel and also has wedding event facilities.

3 months shy of 3 years old...

Alex can be so funny! We are no longer Mommy and Daddy but Cadeen and GB...he always has a grin when calling us this since he thinks it is funny, and causes us to remind him that we are Mommy and Daddy. I'm sure a part of this is because the neighbors kids call us Colleen and JB, so he is just following their lead. As I always say, time is flying by, I'm just glad I am able to enjoy more moments with them since I am only working part time.

Alex takes such good care of "baby Abby" (my old Cabbage Patch Kid), he likes to feed her every night as well as rub her back when she goes to sleep...so cute! He is going to be such a good Daddy when he grows up!

Manners...

We try to instill good manners in our children and have been teaching Alex how to use sir and ma'am, but he doesn't get that sir is for men and ma'am is for ladies so here is what happened this afternoon:

Me: Alex, do you want a granola bar?

Alex: Yes, please.

Me: Here you go

Alex: Thank you Sir, Mom

It was probably funnier if you were here, but at least he is trying!

It is a gorgeous Fall day today so we spent time outside and then to wear the kids out even more we went to All About Kids (aka Bouncy Jump, as Alex likes to call it). Abby is starting to do all the "big kid" activities and follows Alex around and does everything he does, including a huge tunnel slide that has an entire flight of steps you have to take to get to the top. I was surprised she did it, but she had fun and did it over and over. Alex hasn't been skipping naps during the day which makes for a very difficult evening but luckily today he went down without a fight and they are both napping at the same time. I guess I better get to the laundry and all the fun house chores that need to get done while they are sleeping. Enjoy the pictures and videos!

Abby LOVES books! She will go into the playroom and sit and "read" the books all by herself, it is too cute! She is a smart cookie and has already started saying words. She says Mama, Dada, hi, bye, car, Clyde, uh-oh, book, milk, water (wawa), bar bar (that is what we call granola bars) and will repeat or try to repeat everything we say. Also, in this picture you can see her super cute slippers that Sheri got her for her birthday, she loves wearing them!

Alex giving kisses...it is amazing what a Mother's kiss can heal. Anytime Alex has gets any bumps or bruises he asks for me to kiss it and it makes everything better...such a sweet little boy!!

A day at the farm....

We went to Slowpoke Farm in Shepherdsville (about 40 minutes away) yesterday and had a great time, even though it was raining most of the time. We started out by going into the barn and shucking some corn, then took the corn and fed the chickens, then picked baby pumpkins, then went to the big pumpkin patch and got some big pumpkins, then played in the hay maze and tried finding our way out without getting lost, then ate lunch, went on a hayride and then got in the car to come home. It was a BUSY couple of hours but we had a great time!

Hay Maze

Who knew that playing in a pool full of dried corn would be so much fun?

Hayride in the rain

Abby wasn't so happy picking the pumpkins in the rain...she wanted to be held

Alex, on the other hand, thought the mud and rain was great and wanted to pick all the pumpkins he saw, luckily we ended up with only four

Alex feeding the chickens

Holding a fresh egg

Shucking the corn

All dressed up....

JB's cousin, Josh, got married Friday night so we all got dressed up and went to our first wedding as a family of four. Everything was gorgeous and everyone had a great time, especially Alex who danced the night away. Congratulations Josh and Katie!!

Our only family of four picture...you can see they didn't want to sit still for a picture

So pretty....love the bow in Abby's hair

Donna (mother of the groom), Mawmaw (Alex and Abby's Great Grandmother), Alex and Aunt Jen