November Happenings

Here's a quick recap of the month of November:

Brent and his band from church played at a fundraiser in Columbus. It was a cold day and the fundraiser was a soup lunch to raise money for local food pantries. They did a good job. (People didn't rush the stage, as you can see from the first picture, but they provided nice background music during the event.)

Joe got tubes in his ears on November 9th. He and I got to the hospital earlier that morning and waited for a couple of hours. I was very worried about having to withold food and drink, but he really did quite well. We roamed the halls of the outpatient area and then he unpacked the diaper bag. He didn't want to put on the little gown, so I didn't get a picture of that. (I didn't put it on him until they took us back to the pre-op area.) I guess the procedure worked; he's been healthy since.

Jack really enjoyed learning about Native Americans at school.  Each child in his class got to pick out an "Indian name," and he chose, "Mighty Bear."

On November 13 there was a fundraiser for the United Way called, Festival of Trees.  This was our first visit with Santa this year.

Jack enjoyed the trains and gingerbread houses that were on display, and he got to make reindeer food to sprinkle out on the lawn on Christmas Eve.

Joe pretty much just wanted to pull all of the balls off the trees.  (I have several pictures that are all very similar.)

Neither of them was all that interested in taking a picture with me, but after the promise of donuts if they coorperated, we got a quick shot.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we celebrated Sue's birthday with Todd and Rebecca.

Then, my parents came up for Thanksgiving and Brent and I took off to celebrate in Dallas.  My good friend, Shona, had a baby girl that week.  When I met her, she was going by the temporary name Jellybean.  Nearly a week later, she was given the beautiful name, Julia Rose Bell.  Here she is at only 4 days old:

 The other reason for the trip to Dallas (ok, so it was Brent's primary reason), was to go to the Saints vs. Cowboys game.  Brent's friend, Jon Smith, met us there.  I have to admit that Cowboys Stadium is quite amazing, but it was made even sweeter by a very exciting win for the Saints.  It was FREEZING cold, but we were lucky to find tickets from a scalper pretty quickly after being dropped off at the front door by Shona's sweet sister, Sacha.

 We got home on Friday after Thanksgiving, and Saturday morning we said good-bye to my parents and welcomed the Lagraizes.  The boys had a great time together.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Joe and Cecilia on this trip; they were too busy running around the house to get any...quite different from the last get-together at the beach!

 All three boys playing games on their (parents') iPhones:

Happy Halloween 2010

For at least six months Jack has said he wanted to be a ghost for Halloween.  I think he sees a ghost as the quintessential Halloween figure.  He wasn't happy with anything other than a sheet over his head with eye holes cut out.  We tested that costume a few weeks ago, and he realized it just wasn't comfortable.  (When I suggested we leave his head out and just paint his face, he was NOT satisfied with that.  I guess that just wasn't authentic enough for him.  He kept say, "But, nobody is supposed to know who I am!")  So, Brent and I finally convinced him that it would be fun to be a "ghost pirate." I was lucky to find an authentic pirate costume complete with a very wicked sword/knife-thing.  Although he wore the costume twice without face paint, he would still answer that he was a ghost pirate, not just a pirate.

We had a few Halloween celebrations last week to choose from (four to be exact).  First, Wednesday afternoon, the children's story hour at the public library had a Halloween theme.  I took Jack to that and spared Joe the hour of sitting and listening to stories...or perhaps I spared myself the hour of trying to contain Joe while Jack listened to stories.  (I didn't get any photos of that.) 

Then, Thursday evening MSU student association sponsored a carnival with lots of games and activities.  Being the second-born boy does have some advantages as Joe had two costumes.  So, that night he was a spider.  This is a costume given to us by friends.  He was pretty cute in it, but unfortunately, it was late, crowded and cold, and he was tired.  So, again, I don't have a very good picture of the little spider. 

Friday night there was a Halloween celebration downtown, called Pumpkinpalooza, that we planned to attend, but by the time we finished dinner Friday night, we decided we might need the night off.  Saturday Brent and I went to the MSU-Kentucky game ALONE!  It was great!  Grandmommy was in town and kept the boys.
The boys both had Halloween pajamas that they wore Saturday night, and I tried to get some pics of them Sunday morning...

Jack likes to "read" the comic strips.

Sunday night Jack opted to try out the white face paint for the full effect.  I must say it was kind of creepy seeing my sweet little boy with white paint on his face...

I put Joe in the costume that Jack wore for his second Halloween (when he was 18 months old).  It is a tiger (a la LSU tiger), but lots of people thought he was Tigger...oh well...I guess I know where I live.  The Fall Festival at our church had a NYC theme, thus the backdrop behind us in the family picture.  It was fun and was complete with many clever activities (even a real horse and buggy ride around "central park.")  We stayed there until around 6:30, then headed back to the 'hood for some good old fashioned trick or treating.  Jack and I went around the neighborhood with friends, Amy, Lauren & Emily Adkerson (Princess Tiana from Frog and the Princess) and Trisha and Max Phillips (Iron Man).  It was dark by the time we hit the streets, and so, again, I don't have pictures of that.  (Sorry, Dad!)

Brent, Jack and Joe with friends Todd & Evan Hamby

Idol worship (and good hair)

First, let me preface this story by saying that:
1- idol worship is probably an understatement of Jack's relationship with Brent lately.  He cannot get enough of his daddy and pretty much thinks anything and everything Brent does, says, thinks or believes is perfection.
2- this post will probably only be funny to those who know Brent pretty well.

So, you may remember that our family participats in a Foster Parent Program with the MSU baseball team.  Last year we were paired with a player named Russ Sneed.  Jack thinks Russ is pretty amazing.  (Russ is generally a great guy, but to add to his stock, he is wonderful with the children.)  Jack never paid a great deal of attention at the baseball games, but he could tell you all about Russ.  Last year was Russ's senior season.  So, I told Jack that Russ graduated and moved and that we were going to get to meet a new player.  Jack said, "I sure am going to miss Russ."  A bit later he told Brent that Russ graduated and has gone to play with a different team.  (I'm sure he cannot imagine that Russ won't always play baseball.) 

Tonight we made cookies for our new player, Sam Frost.  As we talked about taking the cookies to him, Jack said, "I think I'm really going to like Sam, but, Mommy, does Sam have good hair like Russ and Daddy?"  He was as serious and sincere as he could possibly have been.  I just about died laughing!  To Brent and Russ, considering how much he adores you both, this is the ultimate mutual compliment.  To Sam, you have some big shoes to fill; and be glad you have good hair!

To give this post some perspective...here is a serious of pictures of Brent from the last year:

I'm a terrible blogger!

So, I haven't updated the blog since JULY.  I am resolving right here and now to do a better job at keeping it current.  I intend to go back and fill in some of the events and pictures that I've missed...you know, like, JOE's FIRST BIRTHDAY, so if you're interested, check back and glance through the first 9 months of 2010 for random posts! (Even prior to July, there are several holes that I plan to fill; I will be dating them so that they appear in chronological order not in the order that I actually post them.)  For now, there are a couple of new posts from this month that you might enjoy...

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend our church took a group to a farm outside of town called, Country Pumpkins. It was a HOT October day. Here are some pictures from our visit.

 

The Bears go to Buffalo Park

Last Wednesday Jack took his first field trip with his class, The Bears.  I was lucky to be able to chaperone, and we went to the Buffalo Park in Tupelo, MS.  I drove with one other chaperone, Debbie Smith, and 4 children, Jack, Madeline, Bella, and Chloe.  When we arrived we got to ride a bus and got a "safari-type view of some of the animals roaming on the property.  Then, we got to see several more animals in a more traditional zoo setting.  After seeing the animals, we had a picnic and finished up by picking pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

Getting ready to leave.

Jack and Madeline

Jack and a buffalo

The bears with a bear

Bella, Madeline, and Jack

The Bears with Mrs. Valerie