Parker's Thanksgiving Feast

At Parker's Preschool the 3 pre-K classrooms have what is called a Thanksgiving Feast. The parents signed up to bring things for the meal, such as a turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, etc. I made 2 sweet potato pies! The feast is for all the kids on the pre-K classes and their families. They had each table designated for each classroom and each child made their own place mat. The picture above is of Parker's place mat with the picture of his hand as the turkey, how cute! Everyone got their share of food, and Parker actually did well and finished his plate. He was all into getting dessert, so once he finished his plate he went straight for the cookies! Can't keep away a kid from cookies! Then after we were done eating we had family pictures taken in front of this wonderful display the Pre-K teachers put together. Leland wasn't able to make it to the dinner, but we captured a good pictures of me and the boys. Nathan was getting a little restless at this point, but he managed to make it through pictures.

The very top picture is of a drawing that Parker made in school today stating what he was thankful for. It made be a little hard to make out, but it reads, "Parker is thankful for his baby brother." My heart just about sank when I read that, just what a mother wants to hear..........awwwwww:) The other people that he drew on the paper were of mommy, daddy, a tree, and a pumpkin with a smiley face. Parker sure has one great imagination, and loves to draw and tell stories about his drawings!

The last picture is of Parker saying his prayer right before we ate. He looks so cute with his hands folded saying his prayer, "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food Amen."

Nathan's 1st haircut

Well, we finally decided to get Nathan's haircut for the 1st time today. I was a little hesitant about getting his haircut because I loved his curls in the back, but I, well I should say Leland and I thought it was time to get it cut. His hair was getting long by his ears especially, so this way we thought his hair would be evenly cut all around and it would grow in better. We went into Great Clips and much to our luck they were not busy so we got in within 5 minutes. The hair dresser preferred for Nathan to sit on a booster seat, and I thought to myself, I wonder how long this is going to last..................well about 2.2 seconds later Nathan was reaching out his arms for me saying, "momma", so he ended up sitting on my lap. He didn't have a problem when she put the little cape around him, it was when she began combing his hair is when he began crying. At that point he wanted nothing to do with the lady cutting his hair and just wanted to jump off my lap. Next she sprayed his hair with water and the look on his face was like, "what is this stuff she is putting on my hair?"

Parker, being the nice big brother, tried to distract Nathan by placing a mirror in front of him to make him look at himself. That only helped for a short period of time. So Parker then grabbed a bag of fruit snacks for Nathan to eat. That helped some, but he was so wiggly, it was hard to hold him down. All in all, Nathan did well and now he doesn't look like my baby boy anymore, but a toddler. I was sad to see his curls go, but at least we got his hair clippings to save and Leland captured some pictures.

Our future Hawkeye!

Nathan got this Hawkeye jersey for Christmas last year, and he can now fit into it. Aunt Eileen and Uncle Chris will appreciate this jersey being worn by their newphew! ( since they are Iowa Hawkeye fans and they are the ones who got Nathan the jersey) Nathan was in such a happy mood this morning when I decided to capture some pictures of him. He loves to have his picture taken, however he is really beginning to like the camera a little bit too much and he wants to constantly grab at it and push the buttons. I captured the perfect pose of him putting his hands above his head. We have been saying, "How big is Nathan?" lately and as we say it we put our arms above our heads and he loves to do everything we do. So now all we have to say is, "how big is Nathan?" and he will usually put his hands above his head all on his own.

It's unbelievable to me just how much Nathan has grown! He will be 16 months old on Nov. 21st already! He is definitely developing his own personality. He wants to do what big brother Parker is doing, and follows him around. Lately he has been climbing on top of the train table in Parker's room and thinks it is funny and will jump and hop around. Most of the time I will just ignore him and then he will eventually get down because I'm not showing him the attention that he wants, but I still have to watch him close so he doesn't fall off.

He is speaking more and more syllables each day. The other day we were all outside and Leland and I were working in the garage and all of a sudden Nathan said something and we both looked at each other and said, " did he just say what I thought he said?" It amazes me how parents can understand what their child says and to anyone else it makes no sense. What was really weird is that Leland and I were both thinking the same thing as to what we thought Nathan said. Nathan amazes us each and everyday......

Fun in the leaves!

It was a beautiful fall day on this first day of November in Texas and we were outside doing some yard work. We have many oak trees in our front and back yard and they are piling up everywhere. I decided to get a rake out and begin raking some of the leaved in big piles. Well, you know what kids are going to do when they see a BIG pile of leaves don't ya...............yup you thought right, JUMP right in!!!!! Parker couldn't wait until I had a huge pile of leaves and he took a leaping jump into them! Well, once Nathan saw what Parker was doing it didn't take long for little brother to follow in big brothers footsteps. Nathan has sure become really aware of what Parker does and he wants to do what he does. I guess I have to come to expect that:)

Nathan has this little broom that is just his size and he loves to use it to sweep the leaves in the driveway. It's so cute to watch him sweep, he's my big helper. Every minute that we have to be outside, Nathan wants to be outside playing. He loves to dig in the dirt, play in the sand, and its so cute to watch him draw with sidewalk chalk.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! Even though these pictures are posted the day after Halloween, we still had a blast! Nathan was Tigger which suited him perfectly because he carries around this stuffed Tigger all over the place and sleeps with him every night. Plus he loves to jump and bounce all over the place, so the costume was prefect! Parker chose to be a pirate this year and Grandma and Grandpa Oldham got his the pirate costume to wear this year. He loved wearing his cowboy boots with his costume too. He really didn't care too much to wear the patch over his eye, but was still a handsome pirate.

The boys definitely got to wear their costumes many times this year. The MOMS Club that I belong to had a costume party and then I took Parker to a Creepy Carnival that the city of Corinth had, Parker had a party at school(which he didn't wear his costume, but a very cute shirt he made instead) and then trick or treating on Halloween. It was the perfect night for trick or treating, temps were in the 70's and the moon was in the shape of a crescent and all the stars were shining brightly. Needless to say the boys got TONS of candy. And much to my surprise they got more chocolate this year than compared to past years.

Before we went trick or treating we went to a friend of mine, Robin's Halloween party at her house. The picture of me and the boys was taken at her house before the trick or treating. The boys each had their own flashlight to hold while trick or treating which helped with walking on the sidewalks. I had Nathan in the stroller and Parker was walking next to me. Nathan loved holding the flashlight and shining it all over. By the end of the night when we came home it was 8:40pm we had 2 baskets full of candy and 2 tired out boys:)